#1 HOW TO: Begin

One of my biggest creative hang-ups is an inability to begin.

Starting a new drawing, a new article, a new relationship or even just picking up the goddamn telephone; taking the first step on any endeavour can fill me with so much excitement and dread simultaneously that absolutely nothing happens. In fact the very irony of struggling throughout January to begin a blog post about How to Begin is not lost on me, but rather validates the quandary we face so often; how to get past the starting blocks with an idea we believe in.

Uh-huh-huh

I draw this Christmas hunk-o-rama as a present for the biggest Elvis fan I know. The man's lips are gorgeous and should have their own pencil colour name in my opinion; sweet tomato snarl.

Happy Christmas everyone and thank you very much.

Pump Up The Volume

Little did I know when I signed up for VOLUME: Birmingham's Art, Book & Print Fair that I would be on crutches. With the help of some exhibition elves I carted prints, zines and various bits and bobs of both mine and creative comrade Kate Rowland to the new Library of Birmingham and took residence at a stall there for two days with a broken toe hidden under the tablecloth. Lots of nice people passed through, and some of them bought things, so I thank them for putting this smile on my face. N'aww.

BADASS

Me and Kate Rowland made a zine! It wasn't easy at first but it came together rather magically in the final week; me ripping the delivery box apart with glee upon it's freshly printed arrival like a schmuck at Chrismukkah. A long-time idea, the wee volume contains portraits of people, real and fictional, that we think are totes badass for various reasons. Fighting for freedom, education, their own families, everyone in here deserves kudos and respect, and we know we wouldn't mess with them. Check out my portraits of Marie Curie and Rosa Parks below; times and worlds apart but with the same spirit to challenge and make a difference. Booyah!

YES

Since moving back to Birmingham last year I've taken it upon myself to get involved with anything and everything creative and awesome that crops up, and I'd compare finding these as like a trail of bread crumbs; with each leads to more. Upon spying a paid role to work as a festival assistant at Eye Candy Festival, organised by Fused mag, I leapt at the chance to explore Birmingham's Southside and support the artists involved. The weekend mainly involved running round in the rain and painting chalk signs with the lovely Demi Nandhra which can't be bad, and I even got to take a spin in Flatpack's Vintage Mobile Cinema, pull a print with The Culture Cart and try my hand at depicting French icon Marianne at Le Truc's live portrait event. The latter was nerve-racking for me as a small-scale on-paper kinda girl, but boy did I get a taste for it!

My Marianne will remain on Le Truc's walls until next year's event, so go have a glass of champagne with her anytime ;)

Heisenbyng

On that Breaking Bad hype.

Yes Mr White. Yes Science!

Cannon Hill Lectures 2.0

As a new dawning of the Cannon Hill Collective approaches, I think it's about time I posted the new designs to accompany CHC's sister project; the Cannon Hill Lectures. A shorter sharper season of fortnightly sessions this time around, I drew on some of my particularly ballsy Two Word Pep-Talks to visually provoke a sense the adventure, discovery, and wonder these lectures conjure: a sense that anything was possible.

   

    

This time I focused on making the typography into a stronger part of the project's identity, opting for a 3-D block text that emphasises and places value on each word as an individual unit, even amidst such a playful multi-coloured palette. For me the postcards essentially almost designed themselves, each session linking to a different childhood dream occupation tucked away in my little noodle:

Getting You Creative Project Off The Ground - Tue 8th Oct

Knowing Your Audience - Tue 22nd Oct

Build Your Own Festival - Tue 5th Nov

How to not Give Up on your Creative Career - Tue 19th Nov

Skills for the 21st Century - Tue 3rd Dec

I would also like to cite Mr. Benn as a direct influence on this series, as each day when stepping out of his house he could be anyone he wanted, in any time or place, be it a medieval knight, lion tamer or an intergalactic space traveller dressed in purple. Like him we can choose our own path, and heaven forbid it should be a well-trodden or dull one.

Bostin Fittle: Eating Out In Birmingham

As lots of fresh faces enter Birmingham to be quickly transformed from P.Y.T.s into fantastically grotesque student beings, Area Guide invited me to form part of the welcome committee by writing an article about where Brum's best bites to eat can be obtained. This was an easy one for me and rather handily justified a year of plentiful eating out (score). Priding myself on rediscovering my city a fair bit since moving back from Bournemouth, it was nice to highlight some of the amazing independent eateries I've come across as well as relishing (chortle) the opportunity to draw one of my most beloved foods of all: the burger.

Burgers & Buns

I was asked by a lovely fellow AUB graduate to create a lavish poster for her upcoming burlesque night down Bournemouth way. Entitled The Great Exhibitionists of Boscombe the event is part of The Great Exhibition of Boscombe weekender, in association with Bournemouth Arts by the Sea festival.

Featuring quirky story-led burlesque performances such as Felicity Future's Dr. Furore's Laboratory and The Matador by Luna Peach, my first few design ideas didn't really hit the mark. Wanting to suggest burlesque in general rather than depicting an individual act, I inadvertently showcased a more traditional strand of feather-fan burlesque that the event was keen to shake up. Easily solved with the right image of the headliner and a vicious all-nighter, the response to the poster has been great, but I'll always have a soft spot for the faceless anti-venus and other fleshy casualties that I created along the way.

via instagram

Rude Food Fiesta: A Bit Of A Mouthful

This weekend I offered my services to a food festival with a difference. The latest event from Companis, Rude Food Fiesta invaded Edible Eastside promising lots of naughty treats and tricks to get taste buds in a twist. Granted, allotments are normally quite filthy places, but this weekend's antics definitely got a few hands and minds dirty, taking the site's seedy and soiled ratings right up to 'X'.