The Merry Go Round

Matters of the heart

2008-11-26T17:23:00.002Z

I'm sitting down with a nice cup of Barrys, sometimes there's nothing like it & listening to the soft, tranquil sounds of The Cinematic Orchestra as recommended here. I'm just going over a few things, recollecting, re-evaluating.

A few years a go I did a painting of a large heart, not a nice fluffy, fuzzy pink heart, but a large bloody heart (of the organ variety that is) Anyway, why are you sharing this information you may be questioning? The thing is since doing that painting in Swansea a few years ago, the desire has never left me to do more heart paintings, and to expand on that, to develop it. I was wondering why have I not returned to doing more paintings of the heart if there was such a desire in me to continue. At the time of me doing that painting it was a very raw time, and I put a lot of myself into it. I kept it hidden for a long time not letting anyone see it, but this last year it has been hanging on our bedroom wall. There was a slight shift and I thought it would be good to put it up, reflect on it, perhaps use it to process how it may evolve as a body of work.

Although, in saying that a couple of months ago I had a minor change of heart (no pun intended) with the heart picture. Oh this sounds all so complicated! I was feeling tired and emotional and it was the last thing I wanted to look at, I just wanted it down and to put something non offensive up in its place. R convinced me to let it sit with me a while, on the wall that is. (He has a lot less rash & impulsive moments than I, of which I have many, may I add!!) I took his advice.

It's funny as prior to studying art, I was also painting hearts of the above mentioned, red, warm and fuzzy kind. They looked good, I liked them, people liked them, I even sold some! That was before...before when I thought aesthetics was the be all and end all of a piece of work.

Now I'm left with a desire to continue to explore this organ & its meaning, be it symbolic or real, but I'm unsure where to go next with it. The painting is still on the wall & it's nudging me to do something, perhaps even goading me. I can almost hear it talking to me, directing me, it won't go away, even if I take it down...hide it...give it away. Something has to be done, I'm just not exactly sure yet. I suppose, in the meantime Barrys and The Cinematic Orchestra will have to sooth my jangled nerves!

::Holiday Ornament Swap 2008::

2008-11-10T09:54:00.001Z

So last year I signed up for the Holiday Ornament Swap & enjoyed it sooo much that I had to get involved so I've decided to go for it again.

The idea is to design and make a handmade Christmas ornament that can created in multiples. Then I'll receive an email from these two lovely ladies containing the addresses of 8-10 other swap participants which I then send my ornaments to. Last year they arrived from all over the world...Kuala Lumpar...Australia...South Africa...to name a few. I felt like a child again waiting for the postman to arrive. The excitement mounted as my little trembling hands tried to carefully undo the beautifully packaged ornament, awaiting to see what little treat was inside. It was also really heart warming to receive and make Christmas ornaments for folk around the globe that you didn't know but you knew had a common bond in appreciating things that were hand made. It just makes you want to spread the love, especially around a time of year that has become so commercial, when everyone is running around frantically trying to buy up presents that people don't really need or want to be honest. (well some of the time) It was my saving grace last year to chill, enjoy & create a little something for others.

My enthusiasm for it has rubbed off on a couple of my friends who have both signed up this year. Corrie lives in California & Al is here in London, how funny if they ended up on my list. I think I may just send one off to both of them regardless. Spread the love and all that!

::mini ventirloquist's dummy::

2008-11-10T09:18:00.000Z

Although these days have been quite grey lately, it's the simple things that make me smile.......

As seen here....hilarious!

::ying-yang::

2008-11-09T08:08:00.000Z

This made me smile...I came home to find R had done this last night.

He's the ying to my yang!!

::the general jist of things::

2008-11-06T12:06:00.001Z

::edible art::

2008-11-04T10:41:00.001Z

If you're out and about in London, looking for something to do & want to spend a little time in a creative atmosphere. I suggest heading to see the Robin Rhodes exhibition in the Hayward Gallery. It's on alongside the Andy Warhol exhibition there, which I'm not even going to go into, as it was such a narcissistic & claustrophobic exhibition. I literally ran through it, letting out big sighs of frustration and disappointment. I would even go as far to say that it made me angry!!! When I stepped into the space where Robin Rhodes was showing his work, it was a relief, I felt like I could breath again. He uses just the basics to create art - himself, chalk, a wall as a backdrop. His work often tells a narrative, which he documents using photography. It's very inspiring stuff, I'm not generally into graffiti art in a big way, some may say that Rhodes is part of this genre but he is so much more, it's a mixture of performance & street art. His works are charming, playful and moving.

I also went to the new Saachi gallery in the Duke of York’s HQ building which is a fantastic old building in Chelsea. The exhibition on there at the moment is, New Chinese Art, it's worth going to have a look if only for Liu Wei's piece of work 'Love it! Bite it!', made with edible dog chews...mmm yum! These dog chews were intricately sewn together to create a city, I was amazed at the scale of the work and I'm sure hours & hours of labour that had been put into creating such a facinating piece.

Back to the drawing board...soon!

2008-10-29T10:18:00.007Z

Well as it turns out I'm not superwoman after all! Although some of you may have been under the impression that I was ;) As I mentioned previously, I have been doing extra hours in work & at the moment it is more like a full time job. Which is good because it means that I get to pay back my student overdraft & I feel like a proper grown up again with money in my pocket and not just change rattling around, but proper notes! The other side is that as you may have noticed I haven't been able to keep up with my drawing a day series. Which is such a shame as I had high hopes for it as a kick start back into something else...more work...or back into my studio at least. I am meeting my lovely friend Al today for coffee and will be near the fabulous Atlantis, so I'll be able to stock up on some much needed art supplies. Maybe by next week I'll be able to post a few more new drawings. Until then enjoy the sunshine if it's shinning your way!

::16/10::

2008-10-16T16:30:00.000+01:00

::just because::

2008-10-16T16:27:00.000+01:00

I'm really enjoying that there is no pressure to explain and justify what I am drawing and why. After studying art for the last few years that seemed to be one of the thing that I constantly struggled with. Not that I disagree with it, but just sometimes I do things just because I want to...because I can...just because! There's no big intellectual theory behind it... it just came into being spontaneously.
My stash of canvas's is quickly running out and there is no time to get new ones...there's no shortage of me wanting to sit down and draw though, which is very positive. I have been finding it a little difficult over the last few days, as we've had a spurt of visitors staying and I'm doing extra hours in work to keep the bank manager happy! I'm hoping to get to the shops for much needed supplies over the next few days & keep up the momentum of drawing...I suppose it will be pretty obvious if I don't!

::15/10::

2008-10-15T16:45:00.000+01:00

::14/10::

2008-10-14T17:03:00.000+01:00

::13/10::

2008-10-13T09:40:00.000+01:00

::12/10::

2008-10-12T16:56:00.000+01:00

::11/10::

2008-10-11T16:52:00.000+01:00

::10/10::

2008-10-10T16:47:00.000+01:00

::09/10::

2008-10-09T16:45:00.003+01:00

::08/10::

2008-10-08T13:05:00.001+01:00

Sometimes I'm surprised by certain pieces of my work people like best...this is R's favourite so far!

::afternoon tea::

2008-10-07T20:43:00.001+01:00

3 of my close girlfriends came over from Dublin to stay with me over the weekend, which was so fantastic. It had been such a long time since we meet up all together, although we do speak on the phone regularly. Our lives are very different in some respects but our friendship hasn't changed over the years. They are some of the most important people in my life and I love those girls. We mostly ate good food, chatted and reminisced. When I head home to Ireland or when people come to stay I always feel like I'm able to fill up on my Irishness. This may sound a little bizarre, but after living in the UK for 4 years now I try to do whatever I can to keep me in touch with my home and not to loose sight of who I am. I was full to bursting by the time they were leaving!
One of the places we headed to was this beautiful place... Park Lane Hotel I felt like a lady who does lunch. Our waiter Fabio was uber attentive, even putting napkins on our knees and pouring our tea for us. I could get used to that kind of life, being waited on, what a treat. Oh my goodness, the sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and cakes were to die for...and not forgetting the champagne and cocktails. I could have stayed long into the evening and for a few nights...sure why stop there, a few weeks would have been nice!

::07/10::

2008-10-07T10:30:00.000+01:00

::06/10::

2008-10-06T11:26:00.001+01:00

Probably one of my favourites so far!

::05/10::

2008-10-05T00:53:00.000+01:00

::04/10::

2008-10-04T18:22:00.000+01:00

::03/10::

2008-10-03T18:21:00.000+01:00

::02/10::

2008-10-02T18:17:00.001+01:00

::01/10::

2008-10-01T17:00:00.001+01:00

So here it is...the first day of October & true to my word here begins day 1 of my month of drawings...1 done 30 more to go!