art equals happy.

Old Sketchbooks, early 2011 :: Drawings

I love going through my old sketchbooks- sometimes the bits and bobs you've overlooked the first time can look fun now or bring back memories. It's the same with Art Journals too- but I guess, with my notebooks/sketchbooks I don't take them as seriously in terms of layout, I'm always making lists, and it's the perfect place to doodle when you are waiting for a bus or lecture to start.Love, Kimxo

A work in progress. The Lids Fall Slow. :: Stitching & Dyeing.

"Beneath her brows, the lids fall slow,

The lashes a clear shadow throw,

Where I would wish my lips to be."

-William Morris.

Here is something I've been working on recently. Ever since the Craftivists event, my mind has been itching to translate everything into embroidery. I have a feeling that I will be doing a lot more of it. It's lovely how an old hobby can be picked up again. This piece is particularly special/personal to me because it is stitched on some hand-dyed fabric, and the pattern is from a chair I own (most probably a Morris design) and the quote is wonderfully romantic and sweet and full of longing and just a hint of sadness (as if his lips will never be there). And, I always feel a strong connection to things that have to do with sleep/rest. I know that every flower had a very specific meaning in Victorian times- I wonder what this kind meant? (I would love to own a guide to Victorian floristry.)

Do you ever find that some things seem to have endless depth? Like a piece of art, or a book or certain song? You can read/listen/look at it many times and it keeps revealing more meaning to you? It may not mean anything to the next person, but to you it holds great magnitude?

I hope to one day inspire this feeling into someone with something that I've made. One day.Kimxo

I found some old friends... :: Sketchbooks and Drawings.

Been going through my sketchbooks from 1st and 2nd year, because I'm terrible and properly documenting them as I'm working on them, and lots of stuff never gets shared or finished up properly. 
I found some familiar faces in my Diner sketchbook, enjoy :]Kimxo

An Art Journal of sorts. :: Drawing & Sketchbooks.

Sometimes I like to draw things on paper that isn't in a sketchbook. Sometimes I like to write down my feelings. Sometimes I just need to glue stuff to other stuff. Sometimes I get that urge to document. Sometimes I just need to remind myself of something.
I guess that's what I used to do with my art journals. I just used to do it a lot more often and perhaps with more cohesion? My art journals have taken a back seat (okay- more like locked away in a bag in the bottom of the boot where I never look), compared to Uni work and growing my knitting skills. But this year, I've kept a loose diary of sorts, along with my notebook that I carry around with me everywhere.
Here are some pages from March and April that I thought you might like..."The city moved and we were still. " "Poetically sad and beautiful" "I turned my phone off." "The wind made my hair dance and the boats kissed each other." "I need to tell this to my pages" (just in case you can't read my messy writing. haha)This 'journal' is a free place for me. It's a place that never gets judged. It never has to be 'beautiful' or 'perfect' or even nice looking. I don't have to be happy with the drawings/compositions I make. It is literally a place for thoughts and bits of paper. I tend to keep scraps/offcuts from projects, reciepts, bags, etc and I like putting them together and marking them with a date. It's a nice reminder of what I was doing at the time- and I love looking back at my old ones too. Hopefully one day my kids will too. Maybe they'll see that we all struggle and get frustrated and hate ourselves now and again- but that if we really think about it, we are lucky and there is a lot to be happy about.It is also incredibly helpful for dealing with CFS/M.E. Being able to write your frustrations down- to make something that can't be seen... tangible- (or just complain) to a piece of paper is such a gift. :] Kimxo

Pen Tattoo. :: Style & My Life.

The last couple of months, I haven't been able to stop thinking about getting a William Morris tattoo. Actually, ever since I saw Mandi's, the itch started. Hers is inspired by a ninteeth century engraving. I've been doing a lot of research and reading about William Morris- and I've learnt alot about myself through his words and designs. I think if I was ever going to get a tattoo- it would be something like this...Although, probably thicker lines (like brush strokes) and with more of a 'sketchy' half-finished feel (because I honestly believe that we are always growing and some of the best things in my life have started out as 'mistakes'). I'm thinking brown? Maybe with a teeny bit of yellow for the flowers?

I just did this in, like, 5 min to see if I could get used to having something there.I like it... what do you think? kxo

'Bi' at Mother, London. :: BA Illustration.

A few weeks ago- our class was working hard on creating an exhibition at Mother, London. Read a bit more here. Here are a couple dark photos from the opening night- and some wonky photos of my piece.It looks really skew here, but it's just the angle. Going to take better photos when I get the piece back. Just thought you'd like to see. :] kimxo

Exquisite Corpses with Jazz. :: Illustration & Silly.

Jazz and I had about 30min to kill today, and this is what we did. We love drawing games- and Exquisite Corpse is the easiest and quickest (and usually funniest) one we know. 

If you've never done this before- it's super easy- one person starts drawing a face, then folds the paper so you can just see the lines of the neck and passes it on. The next person draws the torso without knowing what the first person has done- It gets passed around like this until you've completed the body.  

We started most of these from the bottom up today just for fun- and I thought they were so silly, I just had to share. haha!I really love that there are no rules and you can be as silly or serious as you like! I usually just treat it like a doodle and never really know what it's going to end up like! So much fun. :] (I was green marker and pencil.)Lots of love, Kimxo

Exhibition tonight. :: BA Illustration.

So- I can't reveal much more than this untill tomorrow- but you can check out our classes' micro site for our exhibition at Mother.
The theme and title is 'Bi'- and the colours are Pink and Green. The site is fun because you get to see some of our research/inspirations for the pieces which will be on show downstairs at Mother. The exhibition is unfortunately not open to the public- but I will be sharing some photos/videos later. Here are some instagrams of the making of my piece (which is A3 and all hand knitted! phew!).p.s. see the yarn I used in this post here.

I was feeling done in... couldn't win. :: My Life & Art Journal.

'Had he lived to-day he would still have had machines to fight, but he could at least have seen that a machine can be a good servant – if a bad master.' (Holbrook, 1947)

I've been thinking so much about this. About our reliance on machines. On how much 'screen time' we get everyday, every hour, every week... How I would like to live my life and how I do live it. I guess, doing an essay on William Morris and Socialism and how imporant it is to do 'useful work, not useless toil' (Morris in Holbrook, 1947) will do that to you.

It's been a tough month or so at college. Let's just say that Second Year is kicking my butt.And I lost all of my unpublished photos/videos from 2012 (and some from 2011) in a harddrive failure. Luckily I still have copies of the things I posted online- but there was a lot of blog content and college work that evaporated from exsistence. Just that like. 
Scary.

It's setbacks like this that make it really hard to keep my head above water (Like- it's about 10x harder already because I have to deal with a chronic illness). All of that hard work. Gone. Poof. My body is already giving up on me rather rapidly (too many deadlines), and my brain is really struggling to keep pace. I know healthy, young, happy students who are finding it too much- I really thought I was going to crack!

But, one thing this illness has taught me: I AM STRONG.

I may spend a few days in bed, I may not go to all of the exhibitions, I may have werid routines or have to take a bus instead of walking- but I know I can always do it. Whatever it is- I can do it. Pass A-levels? Sure. Do a 2 year course in 1 year? Alright. Deal with a broken heart/abandonment? Hell yeah. Be a vendor at Renegade? Obviously. Get a degree? LETS DO THIS! 

So this is kind of half a pep-talk and half an 'I'm really sorry about the blog being empty' post. I don't know about you, but hearing someone say 'it's going to be okay' or 'it will all work out' doesn't do anything for me (kind of makes me want to yell into a pillow, haha!)- SEEING someone prove that they can win when they are against a lot of stuff- makes me realise that if they can suck it up and do it, so can I. 

I know a lot of people are doing exams right now, I know it's 'finals week' and there are projects and essays to hand in. YOU CAN DO IT PEOPLE. It's probably going to be hard, but I believe in your strength. And hopefully, you can find something that makes it fun and if it's worth doing that shouldn't be too hard.

Love you.

p.s. Loosing all those photos and videos made me really really sad- but life carries on and new photos are waiting to be taken. Sorry for the delay. <3

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Holbrook, J. (1947) On Art & Socialism. Essays & Lectures by William Morris. London : Purnell and Sons Ltd.

Post-it drawings. :: Illustration & Sketchbooks.

With all of these college projects on at the moment (we've got like, 6 things to worry about)- I've been trying to set myself some time in the evenings for fun things. The other night, I made a series of post-it note drawings.I did these completely from my head- pulling attributes from people I'd seen during the day. And trying to keep it as much of a continuous line as possible. Although- I really didn't want any rules. Just funsies.Then the next day, I did these- drawing directly from life.I think the thing that makes these easy and fun for me- is that I'm not worrying about making that person look 'pretty'- I'm just practising lines and shapes and connections.

To do this yourself- all you need is a stack of post-it notes, a pencil (or pen or crayon! anything!) and an imagination!! Try starting with the nose and eyebrows, building in the eyes, mouth, jaw, and then hair. Be free and let the pencil wander! 

Love, Kimxo