art equals happy.

halloween films.

(my fifth birthday. haha)

over the  years, i've acquired quite a fondness with hallows eve, considering it's my birthday and all. and i've always loved magic and witches and things.
(my 1st birthday! a caper onesie with ribbons. um, yes!) seeing a whole bunch of inspiring posts about trick or treating- it's taken me right back to when i was little and in america. since this year it isn't a big deal, i'm indulging in a few spooky films, here are my favs from years past;

i've got say, casper is my all-time favourite. i've seen possibly every version of it. and i can't tell you how many years i've been Casper or Wendy.

oh course- Tim Burton/Johnny Depp is the king of dark and strange, and still somehow loveable...

From Hell, (not a Tim Burton film, but still creepy)and obviously;

and to thrill you, chill you, and fulfill you!!!!

What's your favourite?

i'm pretty sure art school is the best.

last weekend we had a little knitting/birthday party in my flat.

peter made an iphone case, and had never knitted before that day.

[: it makes me happy, because he is always winding me up about my crafts.

i've also been making fun things, but i can't share just yet!

i can say that last week was a big fight for me;

(p.s. all of those mistakes in that little piece were genuine. i actually scanned it in twice before i fixed it. haha. it's so gross.)
but today i brought in some of the things i've been doing over the summer and got a little bit of feedback on it. it's just what i needed really, to know that i'm not completely off mark and that what i'm doing holds some weight in the london world. i was so unsure.

it is also inspiring to see the talent of my classmates. pushes me forward to keep doing doing doing.

i think i kind of remembered who i am today.

my birthday is on saturday. halloween. i'll be 19. i hope you enjoy all the tricks and treats.

kimxo

p.s. i'm growing my hair out.

the last few days,

have been pretty gross for me.

i'm extremely frustrated and confused about my course and what degree i want to do. i kind of want to just start working... i know i'll figure it out eventually, but it just feels so crucial.

anyway. pushing nasty thoughts of work out of my head, i've been distracting myself with getting ready for my stall and setting up a real website!

some changes are happening regarding POW! Papers and Art Equals Happy. good ones, mind you. 

so tonight's agenda involves, pasta, reading, project runway and lots of stitching.

and missing a certain boy.

love you all, kimxo 

my brief flirtation with jack the ripper.

These are my favourite pieces from a week where we spent time in Spitalfields Market and that area, finding something that interested us, and doing 150 drawings. These four collages are based on Jack The Ripper- a famous serial killer in 1888. I got a romanticise bit obsessed with this for about a week, trying to find new ways to his killings.

Here is some more info on the pieces if you're interested; the fascination started with other people's fasciation of this subject -like the press and the legend that he has become- but abandoning the usual imagery of the man in the top hat and the bodies on the floor. Using a dark, serious, brutal subject in a light hearted manner. It's strange now, walking around the murder sites, because there are no clues that such gruesome things happened there- the site of his 2nd murder is now Brick Lane Sunday UPmarket for example. I wanted to make pieces that weren't obvious, just like the sites aren't obvious to passersby now. The top image 'Twice' is referring to how his last victim was the most brutal, and how the blood stained where she was found (the choice of blended watercolours depicting spilt blood). He was famous for cutting the neck twice and surgically removing an organ (his last, the heart was supposedly missing). The rest of the pieces refer to maps of the area and trying to think about the whole situation from a different angle. If you'd like to comment on them, be my guest, I'd like to hear what you think. They will be on flickr as well.

While I spent time there, as prep work I looked at a lot of different things (150 is A LOT!). Here are some sketches and things based around the relationship of new things and old things- trying to find history at street level;

Another thing I did, which I quite like, was mapping out all the lampposts in the small area I was focusing on. it's always nice to notice things that you normally wouldn't unless you sit and draw them.

And just to round it off, I went to important sites when it was dark, to try and capture a feeling of scary history in the present day area.

(view them big!)

i freaked myself out pretty good that night! haha.

Hope you found that interesting. seeing as all my time is being taken up with Uni work, I haven't been doing much crafty stuff- i thought i'd share what i have been doing!

thinking about you bloggers, and missing you a lot!

Kim xo

p.s. i'm going to have a stall on Nov the 7th in London. i'm so excited!

plans for today include; a gallery, an art fair, a lot of buses, possibility of coffee, and a magical forest party with the boy and friends.

i will see you on monday, Bristol- here i come!

kxo

(the lamp post is from a recent project of mine.)

it's that time of year when...

i get to think about all those things my heart desires.

my birthday and xmas are coming up, and every year i make one list. one massive list of all the things i want.

is it weird that i'm not excited by this too much this year? 

there's only really one thing i want.

but, here are just a few things that i love, and make my heart flutter;

david devant and his spirit wife.

animal collective.

stephen fry and his taxi. 

beautiful black and white films.

and seeing them in a cinema with the sound of the film rolling.

 

 

these tapes. and things.

things from RVA.

(credit.)(credit) a print workshop....

speaking of printing...

i made these recently.

just some collages for personal work (or 'side projects'). [: 

there are so many artists inspiring me at the moment. i've been to tons of galleries and lectures and i can't keep them all straight. haha. actually about to go to another one! oh my!

kimxo

p.s. i'm sorry a lot of my work is a bit sad- i've always been true to myself, and i've always believed that it's better to be truthful than to be fake. my work has always reflected my life. this is what i'm dealing with, this is what i'm going through- and i'm glad to share it with you, i hope they are beautiful to you. 

it's raining.

and i have new self portraits to share.

i've only posted the above two on flickr, but here are some 'out-takes'.

(these are all digital. the slide frame is scanned in.)

been playing around with masks and things as well (no editing at all on these);

pretty excited to try it again. 

and to end on positive note, a page i did last night;

time to do some real work. hope you're week is going alright.

kxo

another week, another to go!

hi everyone!

i thought i'd show you some little sneaks into the studio at camberwell. 

haha. anna took the ones of me. i love candid ones like these. and here she is;

we've been making things out of cardboard. it was pretty crazy...

(that's Peter, he is pretty amazing.)

getting post has been such a happy thing here. getting letters from my friends are the best.

something i sent to heather;

time to work on some crafts and sleep so i can get up for the jumble tomorrow!!

night xo