How's this for inspirational



As it's World Book Day tomorrow, my daughter informed me she was finally going to dress up as a character, Dorothy from the wizard of Oz. I love making costumes up from nothing and as I am a hoarder I knew I would be able to rustle something up. Two old school dresses made into one, my newish white shirt and wait for it an old pair of black shoes. But didnt Dotothy have red sparkly, glittery shoes I hear you cry, look no further than these babies. 





I'm a bit gutted I didnt take a before picture .

These are the straps, buckles and toe strap just to show you want they were like in their previous life.



my last blog for the day, Merci!

Here are a few of my photos of the concept shop 'Merci' in Paris. Once again something you need to see first hand, The displays are just incredible.

filtering my photos for inspiration

there is something beautiful about these images. Technical very bad photos but for me the colour, texture, graphical

lines and design content is second to none.

Im staying true to my word




 



I spent Sunday sorting my Paris photos into albums, from which I rotated properly so I can now post my images onto my blog allowing you to view them without having to bend over horizontally. 



The colours of the Leger up close were amazing. My photo does not do it justice. It is imperative to visit museums especially if  an artist etc you admire, are inspired by etc is having an exhibition, books can never convey the true beauty of an artists work when you are stood in front of it.

I am so inspired by everything around me, I admit I do get quite obsessed about my environment especially when I visit new places.

But anyone who knows me will agree I get obsessed about anything.



The dome window at Galleries Lafayette . You have to go there to really really see the beauty.

 

love the colour






 



More inspirational Paris.



Can't believe I am actually writing another post in the same week, but this is my new goal!  keeping my blog updated. But enough talking heres some of my inspirational memories of Paris.
I cant remember the name of the shop but the olive green and gold were so beautiful I knew  I would use this either as a concept or a colour scheme in the future.



I love the winding streets of Europe. This street angle  will fit in perfectly for mjy next project I keep going on about. I particularly like the way the the streets seem to merge into one.




Boltanski's piles of clothes. Yes they could be just a pile of clothes found in junk shops, flea markets etc etc but each item holds a story, and as a collection of garments they hold a lifetime of stories. For me this is so inspirational, immediately evoking a plethora of questions, who do they belong to? where are the people now? did they grow out of them? did they have to leave them? are these clothes the result of a disapora? and that is just my first response, I havent even got onto the colours or styles yet. 





Paris in February

I love Paris !!!!!!
I love everything about it, well not the  dog dirt and litter, although the later does have many interesting things amongst as I found out, when I kept picking up rusty washers, paper french flags, springs and two Capital letter E's which are now placed nicely on my Daughter's book cupboards as they represent her first and surname.
 But what else do I love and get inspired by Paris?



First of all the modern art museum or in french Musee D'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris/ Arc.
The Raoul Duffy paintings were to die for, I was first introduced to Dufy as a young sixteen -seventeen year old, when I first began Art college in the middle1980s, and finally there I was standing in front of his work. I was pretty speechless. Good things do come to those who wait.

I apologise for this being upside down I still have not figured out how to turn the picture around.





The paintings were around an arch shaped room, from floor to ceiling,
Absolutely breathtaking.
I love this image on the right the patten behind the dripping painted words evokes a sense of political unease, a dual world where of rich and poor. I guess these are the aspects of life I find most interesting, that there are always two sides to everything. I guess that is why it is important for my work to have a concept that includes both historical and contemporary elements.



my inspirational finds of the week

When I first began this blog I mentioned I was easily inspired by anything. I love walking although I dont do it very often, but when I do whether here or in another country I seem to come across all sorts of things that other people dont notice, dont want or just dismiss as rubbish. But I seem to see the potential beauty in everything. For example walking into town befor I went on my Paris trip  I came across these.

 They may not look like anything special but the hat, which is a sequined beret style was just left amongst some leaves on the floor . The sequins will come in very, very useful. The nuts and washers are rusted so for me immediately tell a story, or enable me to conjure up a story.

The washers etc can easily be embroiderered onto fabric using a blanket stitch creating a raised eyelet effect.

I cant wait to start my new project! dont want to give too much away just yet, but the concept is excellent even if I say so myself. It combines two major events which could also be construed as one, therefore there will be alot of questioning, emphasis on thought and meaning and forcing people to look deeper into things rather than seeing things only on face value. However I must finish this project first I still have a lot to do and time is running out.

what has inspired me lately?



I found this in a shop in Hartlepool, 'Trash in the Attic'.

I just love it.

 As soon as I saw it I knew I had to get it.




Talk about inspiration for a new brief as well as being a great primary research for drawing. 





The style, colour and shape of the pram are inspiration but I find the torn fastenings, ripped hood, wheels and hub caps are in their own right a piece of art, they tell a story which for me is the most important aspect of inspiration.
The style, colour and shape of the pram are inspiration but I find the torn fastenings, ripped hood, wheels and hub caps are in their own right a piece of art, they tell a story which for me is the most important aspect of inspiration.



My photos dont give this hood and wheels the beauty they deserve.

After finding this amazing pieces of history I began imaging a young child running through a war torn Britain which had  not yet been fully rebuilt. Straight away mt mind began to fill with imagery and design ideas, a story on which to base my next project. To add to this further CCAD held a design event which I thought was amazing. One of the seminars I attended was the History wardrobe, which was thoroughly inspiring with a range of original clothing garments from 1940s-1990s. As one of the talkers walked up and down the aisle to show collections of clothes she was wearing I felt like I was participating in a haute coutre catwalk. But that is not all the clothes and information provided by History Wardrobe added further to my future project. Watch this space because I cant wait to start.