art equals happy.

Louie gets settled. :: Vespa Adventures.

Louie is getting nice and aquatinted with his new home. I've parked him on the street like a big boy- but I can keep an eye on him from my kitchen window. [: He really brightens up the street, in my opinion, and it gives me little shivers of joy to see him smiling back at me every-time I put the kettle on!
A dear friend of mine, whom I met in October last year came over to scan some negatives and have a cup of tea and share her easter knitting projects. [: Emma didn't really know how to crochet or knit at all until I met her (except for the odd lesson by her crafty-wise relatives), and this week I got her started on some colour work stuff! She picks up things superfast, and won't half be surprised if she shows up next week with some crazy coloured squares! I digress... Emma is studying photography at Camberwell and she lives just down the road, which is a win/win because she took these beautiful photos!!!
My Clobber:
shift dress- Vintage, ebay
men's shirt: vintage, Portobello
Jeggins: H&M
shoes: TomsHere is a list of things that I am digging right now:
Rolled up sleeves.
Mini dresses.
Huge 'grandma' style undies/high waisted shorts.
Messy hair.
Casual shoes.
Hand knitted socks.
Little to no makeup.
Pigtails. 

And here is a wee photo of emma. [:Fun fact- we played a game of cards, which normally should take like 10 min, that lasted for nearly 2 hours! I blame this on us being so well matched, in terms of card abilities. haha. I am a big fan of card games, did you know that? Are you a card person or more of a board game person? I like both!
kxo

Horsham to Camberwell. : Louie Story!

Yesterday, I embarked on the last phase of bringing my Louie babe, home with me: Driving him to London! This was a bit of a daunting task as it was going to be about 2.5+hrs on the road, the last bit being through busy londontown. But- I was going in a convoy with Mum&Dad in the car ahead, so at least I didn't have to worry about directions!
My folks were really sweet to snap some pictures along the way. [:
It feels incredible to have that big hurdle out of the way- and it wasn't totally undo-able (being the tired one that I am). We just made sure to stop along the way and rest for a little bit. (although when I got home, I promptly fell asleep for an hour! haha!)Louie really enjoyed himself- but towards the end, first gear starting sticking, which made it really annoying in traffic. But, we got to my flat safe and sound- and now I finally understand what my mod friends back in bristol meant when they were talking about their 'wrist killing' after a ride-out in the city.You can probably see- I wore my hair in pigtails. They are super practical on the scoot- but do they look nice with my helmet and scarf and huge parka? What do you think? (i'd love your opinion!)
:D I'm going to ride him to college tomorrow! Very excited!! kxo 

The Louie Story III

In July 2008- I debuted my first paper line! I had posted a picture of Louie on flickr a little while back, asking if anyone would be interested in me making some vespa-inspired papers... and Rachel Denbow answered back saying YES PLEASE and could she put it in the RVA Kit Club that was going on back then. My heart was so full! Two of my very favourite things coming together in such a great way. I worked hard on these and it was amazing to see something come into fruition like this. A real dream come true- and it was confirmation of what I really wanted to do. Memorable little shoot with Louie and my newly designed papers! Heather took about a gazillion of them for me (thanks again!) and I edited them all up and opened my Etsy Shop shortly afterwards. I think that was the same time that I switched from blogger to typepad too. Big times guys, big times. Art Equals Happy was real! 

In the same month- the same time, actually- I had to nip into an internet cafe to check and see when the Kit went live! haha.... I went on a trip to Spain with my art class. The good memories that I took from that trip- I will always cherrish, but I got sick. I mean... really sick. I think the water was affecting me, we walked way too much for my out-of-shape self and my sore legs, I was overheating all day (even though I was wearing less that I felt comfortable with), and the stress of trying to stay 'mod' and keeping a good sketchbook/seeing stuff while feeling so rubbish collided and I couldn't do it. I stayed in the hotel for some of the time and turned in early most evenings. It was only a 5 day trip or something but... it was hellish for me. The places we went to were amazing! I saw Miro's work and had many delish meals with friends, drank a bit of sangria with my girlfriends and played with masking tape... but it was overwhelming. I didn't even text my parents to tell them I was ill, because I didn't want to admit it to myself! But it was my first taste at what life would be like with CFS/M.E. and what happens when you push yourself too hard. Everyone was great about it- Jayce offered to carry my bags and my tutors even bought me a sweet pair of sunglasses at a market I couldn't attend, and Becky went on detours with me to buy iced tea... I digress...

When I got home- I thought, rest for a while and it will go away. It didn't. Long story short- I was diagnosed and riding my scooter less and less because of how tired I felt- I was a little scared that if I rode too much I might get 'foggy headed' and endanger someone. It was all so new to me.As summer came to a close- I knew that there were some things I was going to have to give up. I didn't want to admit it yet- but in order to focus all my energies on my studies/art (I was attempting to do a full 2 year course in 1 year plus my other subjects)... something was going to have to give.

On my 18th birthday I 'met' Jon and we started dating. It was incredible not to have all that pressure for me to  look like a 'face'. The combination of my supportive, chilled out friendship group and finding out how to deal with CFS meant that I learnt to relax in my dressing style and my lifestyle. Another long story short- Mum drove me to school most days.

My scooter club were obviously wondering where I had disappeared to. I kept saying that 'I'll be better soon', because I honestly believed that. I didn't get that much better. Slowly I was only in contact with Eddy Bullet, and popped round his shop a like once maybe. Then... it was summer again and I was planning on moving to London. I decided to keep him at my parents house- it didn't make sense to move him when I rode him so little and I was in halls.

Poor Louie, stuck in the garage. :[ I'd go out and sit on him sometimes, but mainly I just waved at him through the window. I missed him a lot. Sep- I moved to London. Oct- my CBT expired. So now I couldn't ride him even if I wanted to. He kind of took a back seat in my life, like an old photograph of happy times past.

Wow. Lots happened in 2010. I had survived my first year of going to University in London and living in Halls and I had survived the breakup with Jon when he went to India. I had new friends in a new town and I bought my first flat, moved in... but there was still something missing (besides my energy!). Louie!

My parents also moved in the summertime- closer to London and Louie came with them! When he was driven out of the truck- I fell in love all over again. I missed him alright. So. My goal... Get back on the road soon.

There was a lot to do, to get him ready- his battery had gone kaput and I had to sort out my licensing and check him up and all that. With the start of term again, he got pushed out of priority- and I was worried about whether or not I'd be well enough to ride him. During the fall and winter, we managed to get him running (got to love that kick start) and seeing as my parents were living on a private farm, I rode him around to get requainted. It was great. My heart was full. Then the battery really when fut...

Part IV coming up soon!

Read Part I
and Part II of The Louie Story!

Louie is back!

Today was a beautiful sunny day, and I couldn't wait any longer to tell you all that I passed my CBT (compulsory basic training) this weekend and I'm road-legal again! This is HUGE step for me towards feeling more independent since I fell ill with CFS/M.E. (chronic fatigue syndrome) nearly 3 years ago.

Just being able to get over the hurdle of doing the CBT was huge for me. It's a full day of intensive motorbike skills and on-road-training, something which I would never be able to stick-out completely normally- but I planned it out and did the first half on Saturday, rested on Sunday and did the 2 hour ride to complete it on Monday. The instructors were really nice and understanding and super thorough. I was with three other guys for the first half, and not-going-to-lie, I totally kicked their butts with my awesome skills. haha. :] Nothing quite as empowering as being a girl, on a bike, who knows what she's doing. To be fair, I had a bit more experience, but... it's all good fun.

Being back in that environment, on the road, with my parka, wind (and bugs!) in face, and listening to my scooter's engine when changing gears... it made me happy. Gave me a super big boost of metaphorical energy- a big mood lifter- which made the rest of the day a little easier. [: Nothing like the smell of that blue two-stroke smoke.

The Louie Story Part II

2008 was a big year for me and Louie. I was doing more work for my classes than ever before, I was the photography technician at school, I had several friendship groups to juggle, I was getting ready to open up my etsy shop, I was in a band, I was in a scooter club, I was art journalling every day and blogging and... who knows what else.
It was great to have the freedom of my Vespa to scoot around to friends houses for parties or band practice. I remember, once I got more comfortable, I could ride into Bristol and get my colour film processed during lunch and grab a subway.
I wore my parka basically everyday and was completely in love with Mod fashions. At school there was a 'bike shed' with an overhang where a couple of little motorbikes/scooters would be parked. I was the only girl. It was pretty funny, but the spiders were no laughing matter. yuck.
I was also just getting into Lomography for reals. I swear I never went anywhere without my LC-A. Such a magical time.When summer came and exams were finishing, it was all about going to Harriet's house for movies and band practice or heather's for chocolate milk. A load of my friends loved Louie too, and I'd give them a secret little ride (just around the parking lot) if they were lucky. haha.Harriet and I (right) used to sing 'Lola' really loudly.
The pictures kind of speak for itself so I'll leave it there for now. Part III coming soon!

Read about Part I here. 

The Louie Story part I.

Those of you that have been following my blog since it's inception (and when I had a blogspot called killerxkimxphotography) will know all about my Vespa, Louie. For the new-comers, you might not even know that I have a scooter unless you've looked through my flickrstream loads.

I have some exciting news! Due to my illness, I haven't been able to ride him for nearly two years but this April, I am determined to 'get back on the horse' so to speak. And partly because I'm ridiculously excited and need a count down and partly because I wanted to share these favourite photos with you- I'm going to give you a pretty sentimental recap of The Louie Story.If you'll believe it- I bought this beautiful 150cc Vespa PX from a guy on ebay. I drove a little twist n' go Vespa moped at the time, but I knew that once I turned 17 I could finally get a 'real' scooter. I had a few older Mod friends who were in Scooter Clubs and I always got the piss taken out of me for not having GEARS! The gears on a scooter are on the handlebars (not by your feet like a motorcycle) and to be honest, I was shitting myself about learning gears. haha! Anyway, I digress... I was looking on ebay just to get an approx price so I knew how much I needed to save- when this beautiful minty, bluey, beauty came up. And it was in Bristol. And it ended in 24 hours. It was nearly midnight, I think, but I rushed upstairs to my parents room and actually woke my dad up. I was in love. We went to check it out the next day and I 'gave him an offer, he couldn't refuse'- we paid cash and Louie was mine! I couldn't believe it. It was a very reasonable price as the mirrors were all rusted and the left side panel was smashed up a bit. Louie sat in the garage for two months until I turned 17 and then I started in on the task of learning gears.
I had just started sixth form (like the last two years of high school) which meant no uniforms! It also meant (for me) that guys started paying attention to me. I had an on-again-off-again boyfriend/friend at the time called Matt and we would mainly talk about scooters, music, the 'right' kind of clobber and old films and walk to the bike shed to hang out by Louie (and later, his little matte black vespa). It all felt super romantic at the time, but looking back, we were pretty geeky. haha! I joined the Weston Scooter Club that december where I meant a lot of hilarious guys and they all teased me for driving super slow. I was the only girl... what can I say. haha. It took me a while to get used to a more powerful machine, but I loved every minute of it!During that time I started shooting A LOT of film. I bought my first Holga and I was the Photography Technician at school which basically meant I had to get the darkroom all set up/cleaned up everyday. That made for a lot of very chilly mornings.
I carried my British Airways bag around with me everywhere (what's a Mod without one, eh?) and scooted around to friends houses around the countryside, but still to scared to drive into Bristol until 2008, haha!

I can't quite remember why I originally named him Louie- but, because of Quadrophenia we used to sing "Louie, Louie! ooooooh, no- I said.. We got to go! yeh yeah yehyeaaah." and it just stuck. [:

2008 is coming in part II. [: Hope I'm not boring you too much. You can see more photos of scooter/mod times in this set on flickr.