A Day at Pick Me Up

Pick Me Up, if you don't know, is a fantastic annual graphic arts exhibition full of lots of aspiring illustrators, designers and print makers. It's held at Somerset House, and as you wind your way through the rooms there is plenty to delight the eye. I always enjoy going simply because it is so inspiring! There is a lot of talent showcased at this event. It makes me want to get creating some beautiful illustrations myself. However I do often come away a bit morose because I've seen so many prints or books that I want to buy, and sadly cannot afford! Another fab thing about Pick Me Up is the participation. There are events going on each day, some free and some paid, but all fun and exciting and you usually get to meet the artists themselves.

On Monday when I went Seb Lester was doing calligraphy, and there was a monster making workshop courtesy of Felt Mistress and Creative Review. How fun does that sound?! It was free and hugely popular, but Jed and I managed to squeeze onto the table, joining adults that had all turned into 8 year-olds at the sight of felt and scissors - the lengthy sewing process soon lost it's charm on most though!

Another hugely entertaining exhibit was Face Stamp by Human After All, where you could create your own faces by using stamps designed by them. Such a simple thing, but mixing and matching the different facial parts was so much fun! We all got stuck right in.

 I grabbed my notebook and stamped out a few faces:

Jed made a face:

Hattie's faces:

Here are a few more photos of some of the prints I liked.

And lastly, I found a perfect book for me. Might have to treat myself to a graduation present...

Showtime

Today I took a day off (so I'm going to have to work extra hard tomorrow) to go to The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show in London. I had a bit of a faff getting there as I forgot to make lunch, lost my ticket and then missed my stop...a proper facepalm of a morning. However, on the upside I had to take a bus through central London which I love, there's always something to see and I miss being amongst it all - though I'm not that far away in Kingston!

Finally, after spotting a trail of grey-haired ladies, I did make it to the show, and it was great!

There was just so much stuff, it was like an amazing treasure trove full of lots of bits and pieces for crafty types to get their hands into. One of the things that struck me was all the gorgeous fabrics and their colourful patterns tempting whoever walked past.

There was one particular fabric that of course caught my eye, unfortunately too expensive though!

There was more wool than you could possibly want, with some of the bargain stalls providing avalanches of wool and desperate grabs for the best choice. 

I loved all the original, quirky ideas the exhibitors were showing off, there are some very fun designs out there which were very inspiring.

That last photo was from a stall selling 'Extreme Knitting'. Now, I do love knitting, but I wouldn't exactly say there was an extreme aspect to it. These needles however, are HUGE, so I guess that could be called extreme.

I wish I could have bought so much from the show today, but I resisted! I just got this gorgeous fabric to finish the bag I'm knitting, some wool to attempt socks (next project) and some more basic needles. Overall, a fab day!

Fixperts

Last week was the exhibition launch for Kingston Making Fixperts at the Stanley Picker Gallery. Fixperts is an organisation determined to advocate the idea of fixing things, and aims to connect designers and makers with people who could do with some help fixing day to day problems. Films created of the fixpert process by students at kingston were exhibited, along with photos taken from each group. Check out how busy it was!

This project sounded like a fantastic idea, so this is the story of our fix. I, with three others went about finding someone to help, aka a fixpartner. Easier said than done. Some people thought we were a repair company. Some felt offended at the thought they might need help. Others still never got back to us. This project was proving difficult to even start! Finally however, with the deadline looming, we stumbled upon the lovely people at Stone Hair Salon in Kingston. We got chatting to the founder John and receptionist Lauren, and met the Salon dog, Rotten.

After a grand tour and more chatting we had heard about some issues we could possibly fix, and some we couldn't (Lauren would really love a new desk please John!). Having narrowed it down to two, we set about working out how to fix them. It quickly became clear that one which involved use of hair dye would be quite complicated given the time frame, so we focused on solving the problem with their light switches.

One switch controls the lights above their consultation area, and is easily knocked as it's located in a coat cupboard. Unfortunately, this switch is also on a timer, and with no instruction manual can't be turned back on! Imagine having a consultation with a hairdresser in the dark. Not good. This seemed like it would require quite a simple fix, but one that would make a big difference to Stone Hair.

One weekend, a few tests and lots of measuring later, we had a cover for the switch, and what we hoped would be a successful fix. Having taken it to the salon to fit however, we discovered that our cover got in the way of the coat hangers in the cupboard. Uh oh! Luckily James, one of our team members, had a saw in his bag - one he had bought earlier. A quick alteration out the back and our cover was ready.

Lauren wasn't in that day, but John was delighted with our creation, as simple as it was. The rest of the salon is quite minimal and tidy, so we made it as unobtrusive as possible, painting it white to fit in with the rest of the cupboard. John was pleased and so were we, a successful fix!

Have a look at fixperts.org for more information, and to see everyone else's films. Fixperts project by myself, James Green, Jackie Dermawan and Irmak Osman. (Thanks to James for the photos).

TOURIST

'Tourist' is the name of our show, an exhibition by second year Graphic Design students at Kingston University. The work being presented is all based around the theme of tourist, and I can't wait to find out what everyone has produced!

We've been busy this week working on the publicity and identity of the show...