Donna Wilson

Last week we had a visiting tutor- the designer/maker Donna Wilson. She designs some very beautiful and whimsical things, see them all here.... Donna Wilson

I really like her traditional Staffordshire ceramic dogs, which she has painted with little fairisle jumpers.

Roadside Projects

Sophie sent me a link to these beautiful illustrations by Jayme McGowan...

I love the textured look achieved just by using layers of paper. She also mixes in a lot of patterns which are interesting...

Roadside Projects :: Art & Illustration by Jayme McGowan - Home

I Speak Because I Can

Exclusive: listen to Laura Marling's new album, I Speak Because I Can - Times Online

Do it. Its going to be good. I like the way she talks about wanting to live in different times (in the interview below), something I have often thought about.

Laura Marling is cut from different cloth - Times Online

All things rice

Katie and I have finally resolved the 'structure' of the story- it will be split into 6 chapters, each of which will describe a different element of the girl's journey. Design wise, each chapter will have a theme, which a collection of fabrics will be based on.

One of the chapters is going to be very childlike, and maybe a little bit surreal.

For inspiration I have been looking at the website of a design company that i love: Rice

They make beautiful home products and accessories (and are a very ethical company)- and a lot of their designs seem to appeal to people with a weird sense of humour!

The story so far...

Hello! I'm Katie and I'm writing the story for this wonderful project. So far it's been incredibly exciting - I love Lucie's designs and Sophie's illustrations. It's magical to see characters and images coming to life. We seem to have a lot of the same interests/tastes, and I've been inspired by many of the things Lucie has been sending me.

Most of the inspirations for the story are coming from working together, and it all seems to be falling into place nicely. Today in between writing moments I've been lost listening to delights such as this (Linking on here doesn't seem to be working):

http://vimeo.com/6437039

and getting lost in their world:

http://www.awalkaroundbritain.com/journey/journal/
(Both links from Lucie!)

I've now written the first drafts of the first two chapters of the story, and I'm getting into the third, which is when we meet the three travelling musicians.

Most beautiful dress ever?

The Kenzo Autumn/Winter '10 collection is just so beautiful. A really interesting mix of prints and patterns, heavy and light fabrics and different textures. I love the country feel (fur, tweeds, florals and feathers in an array of country hues).

See the rest of the collection here ... Kenzo Ready-To-Wear - Catwalk report - Paris Autumn/Winter 2010-11 (Vogue.com UK)

Prada's Fairytale Dress

Carey Mulligan's dress for the Oscars looks beautiful from a distance, but in detail is all the more interesting. Instead of sequins it is covered in tiny scissors, knives, forks and what looks like corkscrews! I love the surreal / fantasy element, especially for an event as formal as the Oscars. Read more about it here... Carey Mulligan - Miuccia Prada.

Try hard Tuesday

Today has involved a lot of talking and thinking and doodling. I've started on some imagery for prints and patterns in the story, working from the starts of Katie's writing. I need more inspiration on what to draw and to work out how simplistic to keep the collection of patterns.

Also very excitingly Sophie has created our main character (still seeking a name) and the old man in the woods! They are perfect, and will soon be dressed in an assortment of nature inspired patterns.

For Katie... a musical traveller

This is Alex Roberts, a Dorset based maker of beautiful music...

listen to By The Ley on his myspace here-

Alex Roberts on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

P.s. And there's a free download here ... Alex Roberts warm hearts and wintry moons

An old man and a deck chair

In Katie's first draft of the story, she writes of an old man who our character comes across in the woods.

"The old man is sitting in a faded yellow and blue striped deck chair, which she thinks, not quite knowing why, is a funny thing to be sitting on in the woods.."

Today's Presentation

The 'mini presentation of ideas' this morning helped resolve a few issues within the project. These images are from my 'mood board'- which presented a few of the techniques I intend to use and some key pieces of research.

Megan Park

This is Megan Park's contribution to the Selvedge Shop christmas window advent calendar. The mix between inky illustration and luxurious embellishment is really nice- something i want to play about with.

(Taken from the Selvedge blog- http://www.selvedge.org/blog/?p=521)

Really Fantastic

I LOVED Wes Anderson's latest film- Fantastic Mr Fox for a lot of reasons. It's funny and tells Roald Dahl's story so well, it has a great soundtrack, but most importantly it is amazing visually. My favourite thing about it is the attention to detail, I love the little things you don't notice at first like the acorn pattern wallpaper (top image) and Mrs Fox's fruit patterned dress.

(Images from http://www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com/)

Catherine Hammerton

This work is a bespoke wallpaper design by Catherine Hammerton. She uses really unusual techniques for her interiors collections- mixing different materials and layering papers and fabrics. The overall look is quite vintage and whimsical.

Emma Cook

I was looking through a book belonging to an embroidery tutor today and found some old images of Emma Cook's work- with some beautiful embroidery details and whimsical prints.

These images are from her s/s 09 collection. (from the Vogue website)

Travel Light

Sophie reminded me of this amazing cover song by Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn yesterday, it has a lot of ideas in it that could be interesting for the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-jFR6qaf18

This image is from a past project where she illustrated the song.

Make Do and Mend

Laura Bailey's latest blog entry (www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/laura-bailey) dwells on a theme that I have thought about a lot recently.

We can do so much to go against the 'throw-away culture' that exists around us- why buy a new outfit from Topshop for every night out when we should be taking more care to look after and preserve the clothes that we already have.

Then again, I wish I had a wardrobe like Laura Bailey.

From Fairie-ality Style

Worked out how to get pictures uploaded! This is from www.fairie-ality.com.

The book 'Fairie-ality' presents a fantasy world of fashion for fairies, from 'The House of Ellwand'. All natural materials are used to create the illustrations, and a combination of different papers and cut-out and fold-out pages make the book unusual.

hmm.. how to upload pictures..

The Work of Su Blackwell is a big inspiration. She uses mostly paper and textiles in such a delicate and interesting way, and manages to create little worlds within a piece of work.

I took this photo of her work 'While you were sleeping', at her recent exhibition at the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh.

www.sublackwell.co.uk

Starting Point

'Three Degrees' is quickly taking shape. I have managed to rope in two lovely collaborators, and the ideas are starting to come together.

The basic idea is an illustrated book, which will also present collections of fabrics, fashion, costumes or accessories.

Katie and Sophie are going to help me create the world in which is the story is set with their beautiful writing and illustrating skills.

I will start uploading the imagery, web links, ideas etc that we are all drawing inspiration from, and if anyone can suggest anything to help please do!

Thanks,

Lucie x