(Hans Bellmer)

I recently discovered Hans Bellmer's doll like sculptures in Tate Liverpool. I was instantly drawn to the glass cabinet sitting on top of a shocking pink pedestal, I'm sure the colour had something to do with the intrigue but what was in the cabinet instantly reminded me of the work of Trevor brown. It was vulgar, thrust into your face, I was left fascinated yet repulsed, with the same thought that fills my mind when I look at Browns work, I found it quite 'pretty' aesthetically pleasing, yet could obviously see that the image in front of me represented a child's body, so felt quite uncomfortable looking at it and wondering if i did like it or not, and wondering if I should.

     I later found out that Bellmer created these dolls in the middle of the Holocaust, and from finding this out could possibly begin to understand why he had created these sculptures, obviously none of his works have faces , perhaps this is a comment on the many pits of mangled bodies that may as well have been faceless, amongst these were numerous children , so to me his work seems to be a comment on the times he was living in.

(ecards)

I've only recently found these. I absolutely love them. I like the way old found images are used along side witty typography. They please me visually and also make me chuckle when i read the text, i find them ultimately charming. They also appealed to me because i often use Victorian and other retro style images both my own and found along side witty remarks or sayings, so I find these rather useful inspirational material.

(sympathy cards)

I found this under the category of 'sympathy cards' I must admit it made me laugh an awful lot, and when i thought about it, i suppose if you have dated someone ugly and are perhaps regretting the fact, then i suppose this card would act as a sympathy gesture. I like it because again it falls into the category of, on face value been quite charming and appealing,( i suppose i like the image itself mainly for its bright colour and illustrative quality, mixing an old Victorian style image with such a bright and modern background,) but then of course when we read the text it makes us smile , or at least makes me smile. It gives me one of the feelings i love , which is knowing i really like something and it amuses me immensely ,  but knowing i really shouldn't because it is after all rather cruel.

Its not on my conscience

The latest addition to my drawing book. it did upset me a little to draw a dead stag, but the general meaning behind this was to convey how some people really don't care what they do, although killing is an admittedly extreme way of portraying this i felt the message needed to be strong. Because just like the lynx in this illustration, some people just don't have a conscience. I'm not as pleased with the line quality on this one as i am on the others from the drawing book, i 'm not sure why, perhaps it is just because I'm ill and feel out of sorts. Overall i like the meaning and i do like the way my lynx has turned out.

(The type of animation i would like to aspire to)

I recently saw this video and i wanted to add it to my blog as it its the type of animation and quality of animation that i would like to aspire to , i also like the song.

Love Is Like Eating A Table (stop motion animation by myself and Jessica Deacon)

Love is like eating a table is a combination of both my illustrated characters and Jessica Deacons technological, stop motion wizardry and computer skills. The songs lyrics and music were written by myself and performed along side Jessica.

Awfully pretty stitch

I was kindly given a lot of old cross stitch designs by a friend, this one had been partly started so i decided to finish it and add text. The scene, to me looked as though the poor girl in the purple has been replaced by the girl in the pink, so i added tears and a rather nasty tag line, although , i wish it had been the girl in the pink who was the one in tears, if life was perfect it would be. I like the way i have used a cruel line in the text, yet from a far the image looks rather appealing and innocent, some might say , quite pretty and feminine.

This piece shall be used as part of the free gift set in our collaboration magazine, along side other rather horrible delights, there will be lots more wicked stitch, post cards, potions and more , you shall just have to wait and see.