Thursday 6 November 2014

The Morrissey Paper Doll Book








I love him that much I made a Morrissey paper Doll, He has actually been quite popular , so I am now working on a Robert Smith Doll,

The Morrissey paper doll book entitled 'It takes cuts to be gentle and kind' is available to order from my Etsy shop :
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CharliesCrazyCouture?ref=hdr_shop_menu

Keep your eyes peeler for Rober Smith coming soon !


Reviews from Mothers Ruin performance

Haus of Fhag
Charlotte Victoria Furness, the sailorwench-cum-bundle of wool (she wore a home-knitted wig. Obviously) performed a handful of enchanting but slightly unsettling songs, including a love song for her GBF and a ditty about harbouring a secret pregnancy. Her contrast between innocence (with Beanie Babies pinned to her dress) and slight mania gave her songs that slight sprinkling of crazy that edged them away from being cute and straying more into the realms of fascinating discomfort. 

So so gay magazine
Our first act of the evening was the splendid Charlotte Victoria Furness, bedecked in her home knitted red beehive wig and sailor get-up, complete with sewn-on stuffed animals. Performing with her ukulele, she gave us a whistle-stop tour of her recent love life, from a pregnancy kept from a soon to be ex, to falling in love with a ‘Friend of Dorothy’.  What sounds like a fairly uncomfortable few minutes of listening was quite the opposite, largely due to Furness’ charm and dry wit that shone through in her lyrics.


Brian Gorman
The public review
Highlights included Charlotte Victoria Furness, a charming young lady who came across as a gentle mix of Victoria Wood, Sarah Millican, and Morrissey. Although the themes were pretty familiar – the pursuit of a nice man, weight issues, etc – they were explored with genuine wit, warmth, and alluring self-deprecation. The odd rude remark about semen being a little at odds with the rest of her material – one suspects inserted for this particular audience.

The Sea Of Tears performance at Mothers Ruin Queer Cabaret Manchester

Last Month I sailed on over to Manchester's Roadhouse to play at Mothers Ruin Cabaret. It was an absolutely wonderful show full of Drag queens glam, comedy and music,, what a fabulous place to be.
I really LOVED playing here Mothers Ruin is such a fantastic variety/ cabaret show and well worth a visit ! I felt like I was in Wiemar Germany.

I also got a lot of lovely reviews written about me ,, which is a nice bonus !

Enjoy xx

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Body Possitive



This is my friend Chloe, not only is she one of the most talented paper folding geniuses in the world !she is also the most body positive woman I know!

Anyone who is close to me knows I have a very negative attitude towards my body. Over the last year I have made an effort to loose weight , and although I am still not completely happy with my body, by going to the gym and lots of classes I am a lot fitter and a bit lighter, however, I cant help but think I would be a lot happier if I could have the same attitude that Chloe does.

Another thing those close to me can tell you is that I take things to heart, I may act like a very happy carefree 'up yours' kind of person, but when people are cruel and personal about things that really don't matter such as weight and appearance it really does hurt me and affect me on a long term basis.
     For the past year along side eating healthy and going to the gym I also decided that , due to the negative attitude and comments of one person (the opinion of which I know is rubbish and means nothing) it would be a good idea to stop wearing bras and strap my breasts down so it looked like I had little to no breasts at all.
I've always had quite a large chest and honestly it never bothered me, but the nasty and uncalled for comments of one person stating :

" You're boobs are really your only asset, and if you lost them I really don't think I'd want to bother with you any more, and lets face it, your a big girl and if you lost all that weight you would look a lot better , but you would loose your only assets"
 
In my head I thought , I don't want you to bother with me anymore if you can say something so hurtful and shallow, but it also put a negative seed in my head that grew into the thought of, what if that's true? what if men really do only talk to me and like me because of these ridiculous objects attached to my chest? I felt completely objectified! it was obvious that this particular person only bothered with me for these reasons, but would everyone else just see me as this Parton chested fat girl they were doing a favour to by even bothering with me?
 
It has taken me almost a year to get this thought out of my head, firstly I thought about Dolly Parton,, she has the largest breasts I can think of, but she is and means so much more to me and thousands of other people around the world because aside from the fact she has breasts she is also a wonderfully talented woman! I know people don't like her for her breasts they like her for what a brilliant woman she is !
Secondly I have a brilliant  family and circle of friends, If there is one thing that has come out of all the negativity it is that I have met a group of amazing people, friends that accept me for all the positive aspects I possess, I know that the fact I can make people laugh, that I am kind to people and despite how I may have been made to feel in the past I am an interesting fun person to be around. Chloe and all the other wonderful friends in my life have made me see, the love and positivity you can find in people.
 
When I saw Chloe's doughnut picture it just made me smile. I feel very privileged to know someone who simply does not care what rude negative people think about her , and who, because she doesn't care will shove it in peoples faces, not feeling ashamed or worried about what people might think. She loves herself enough not to care and this is the perfect attitude to have, I really wish I thought about myself in such a way. I know a lot of horrid people have commented on this particular picture of Chloe and been very personal about it, but to me this is the most positive picture in the world, I wish everyone could see it the way I do.
 If Chloe can do this and be proud of everything she is, then maybe everyone can be like that. If the negative comments of one person can effect someone so much then why cant the positive attitudes and comments of people we care about and respect affect us in the same way? I feel that when we surround ourselves with genuine, positive people we can feel better, and hopefully the positive attitudes about out body can come out and drown the negative feelings we have.
 

Wednesday 16 July 2014

I have now opened my Etsy shop !

Its here all my illustrated goodies and my knitted accessories , I ship world wide so have a little look and see if there is anything you like, theres knitted sushi hair clips, prawn brooches, colouring books cards and more

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CharliesCrazyCouture?ref=l2-shopheader-name








Monday 23 June 2014

Its Official!

So for all you Vincent Price fans and indeed Charlotte fans I've an amazing slice of news this week!
The Oh Vincent paper doll and colouring book is now going to be official! Victoria Price wants to license me to produce them !

I feel like I'm now part of and responsible for continuing the Vincent legacy!
Needless to say I am super excited about this and will be keeping you posted.



Also I'm in talks with the Laurel and Hardy museum regarding colouring books and paper dolls,, its all go !

Sunday 1 June 2014

You'll Do



As I sat last night knitting and making offensive presents for my friends I thought about how happy I feel at the moment. Things seem to be going very well for me, I have wonderful friends and family and I continue to meet lots of lovely new friends as I go about my merry old business, allowing more and more opportunities to present themselves.

 I realised that I am actually very happy and content being single, and had a bit of a revelation, I realised that all the times I could think of when I felt really unhappy were because I had settled for something I thought I wanted but wasn't even close to anything I wanted.

I love behaving like I'm still 19, I love getting in at stupid o' clock and passing out in the kitchen, I love doing it all again the next day, I love just being me and not having to settle for what makes anyone else happy. I don't want to have to smile politely at someone's parents whilst they are rude to me, I don't want to pretend I'm interested in going on a boring date to see some arty farty  film I couldn't care less about, or some boring old place I'm not interested in.

Thus I wrote this song, to remind myself that settling for something that isn't right for you , is a very silly thing to do indeed

I hope you like it x

Sunday 18 May 2014

Tales from the Sea of Tears


Five songs from the Sea of Tears

This performance has been extended for Accidental Festival and now includes 10 original songs,, you lucky people.
you can buy tickets here:
http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/accidental-festival-2014/charlotte-and-her-ukulele/

When performed live the show includes much more banter, for what is a show without an audience? just me in front of a camera that's what !

The Sea of Tears will also  be performed at my degree show on the 20th June at Batley school of art and design Wheelwright building

Thursday 1 May 2014

From the sea of tears

































So here it is the costume !!

It can be seen in its full glory on the 25th May making its debut at the roundhouse. For tickets to the show please visit

http://www.accidentalfestival.co.uk/#!untitled/c1urk

Sunday 30 March 2014

Accidental Festival

Well the time is almost here ,, and here is the program !

I'm so happy my face has ended up on the front of the Sunday page ! very proud indeed!

Accidental festival will run from the 22nd -25th of May at Camden's round house so if you are looking for an awesome time come on down

http://www.accidentalfestival.co.uk/#!untitled/c1urk

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Leeds artist book fair 2014 at the Tetley

Well I had an absolutely brilliant weekend at the book fair. Not only were my books popular I also met so many wonderful people and was presented with so many opportunities. Being part of the book fair has further reassured me that my illustrations do have a place in the world, and chatting to buyers and book collectors really inspired me to 'keep on trucking' Id forgotten  how much joy doing my illustrations had brought me, and seeing that same joy brought to the people who bought my work made the experience even more satisfying. I felt as though my illustration might be getting over shadowed by my performance, but realise that in the right content, both illustration and performance can bring both myself and others joy, and that is why I will always continue to be an artist, and never let any of my skills slip onto the back burner.

I am also part of an exhibition of postcards curated by Louise Atkinson called the Imaginary museum, which will be on display at the Tetley until the 22nd of march.

The imaginary museum is made up by 18 spate artists, visitors may select individual post cards to make up a set, making up their own imaginary museum, 

Also I bless the day I met Louise Atkinson. She has been such a positive influence in my life ever since the day I met her, she has continued to encourage me both in my art and confidence and has helped me so much. I'm so lucky to have met such a talented and genuinely nice person, what a good egg , I love her very much!

Tuesday 25 February 2014

Sheffield Artist book prize 2013


 
Well I didn't win, but my little book of Horrors was in the exhibition
if you look very closely its right on the bottom shelf in the left hand corner. haha