A person I've never met and a conversation I've never had...

my submission to Nobrow...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1185256@N25/pool/

Broadcast

what I have been listening to at the moment

Christmas cards...

Vintage presents

I went to the London Affordable Vintage fair last week and bought a beautiful dress that made me feel slightly guilty...but I found some nice little finds for some lucky friends of mine...you might be one of them.

Birthday Magpies

For Rose...sorry I missed your birthday...this is on its way

DrunkenWerewolf (Issue 10) Illustration

Issue 10 of DrunkenWerewolf zine out now...featuring some of my illustrations. Available from...
http://drunkenwerewolf.livejournal.com/118341.html

Tickley Feather

For Shebang

Nest

The Nest Gallery provides a space for female artists working in and around London to showcase their work. The project space will provide a platform for fine and graphic artists, crafters, writers, filmmakers and musicians to collaborate and exhibit their work.

 

The Nest Gallery itself will adapt to its surroundings and migrate when it must. 

DrunkenWerewolf (Issue 9) Illustration

For Esben and the Witch, the full design and interview can be viewed and purchased from the DrunkenWerewolf MySpace and Livejournal. Working on a design for House of Strange at the moment...

Helen Duncan

In times of great worry, people seek comfort in another world. To try and communicate with the dead, to try and find hope in the future. 

Sometimes this involves ectoplasm. 

Winter Wonderland

Tickley Feather

Really, really good.

Thinking big

Robert Therrien at the Tate

For some months now I've been debating whether I can put together certain projects that have been brewing under the surface and I've realised I've got to get something together. I'm gathering a group of predominately female artists (there might possibly be some males), with strong skills and concepts for a project space/gallery that will involve taking over an disused place, possibly due to the recession, and making a positive for what has been a grim time for a lot of us. 

Right now - there isn't a space...but it is an idea that gets bigger every time I think about it. 

New projects old music

So this is an illustration as part of a series I'm doing for Roast Books.  I think its going to be discarded for a series of drawings...had a slight worry this week...I couldn't draw due to a cold.
Also - putting together an proper R&B playlist...memories of my tomboy chubby teenager-hood including Lauryn Hill, Blackstreet (yes that one song), Outkast, Destiny's Child, TLC, Aaliyah, Ludacris, Mya, Missy, Snoop, Kelis and more. If you want to comment below with more suggestions...do it. Let's make this list.

I want

to see this. 

J W Waterhouse

'The Magic Circle' 1886...

The Royal Academy is currently exhibiting J W Waterhouse 'The Modern Pre-Raphaelite' until the 13th of September. Mythological worlds and the depiction of the fallen man. 

Autumn approaching

I'm glad this summer is over, the autumn and winter months are always better. Here's to a happier season.

The Lady in the Moon

This is a piece I have produced for 'The Noise of Art' Exhibition taking place at the Swanfield Yard, 2B Swanfield Street on Thursday 3rd September until Sunday 20th September. Pop by if you can- details here...http://www.eastendartsclub.co.uk/page4.htm

Sir Patrick Moore

San Francisco Buses

Goblin Market

I have been working on some pieces for a project by Zeel, based on the poem Goblin Market. This has resulted in some fabric fruit, and I will be journeying down to Hastings (via Tunbridge Wells, home of the domestic goddess satanist Millie Easton) for the latter part of this week before enjoying the Notting Hill carnival. Oh yes. 

Stitch Wars

My friend Anne forwarded me this...Stitch Wars, an exhibition recreating Star Wars using craft at the Bear and Bird gallery Lauderhill, Florida. Even the flyer is impressive - Princess Leia doing a bit of needlework, while R2D2 holds her reel and Darth Vader on a sewing machine.

Wow

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2009/jul/23/star-wars-exhibition?picture=350711031

R.I.P John Hughes

I found out that John Hughes, of 'Pretty in Pink', 'The Breakfast Club', 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' sadly passed away. 

Nice things in the post and Design Milk

Sort of in love with Tartaruga records, primarily because the Quinta 'My Sister, Boudicca' album arrived on Saturday, and after what seemed possibly the longest day at work. All of their releases are packaged in recycled card, hand assembled, screen printed and sewn together. A real labour of love.

In terms of my own work - http://design-milk.com/reena-makwana/

Some nice comments by Erin Loechner who runs Mankind Magazine and writes for Design Milk. 

Where the magic happens...

Aside from invigilating at the Gilbert and George show, I have been working on a few projects - the first being artwork for the 'Art on the Green' East Dulwich fair in August, which is being curated by Andrea Parrie and Valerie Focke. My work is centering around Sir Patrick Moore and the moon in light of the recent 40th anniversary moon landing. I'd like to add this body of work isn't going to be involving scientifically accurate drawing...instead I'm producing four embroideries onto records (classical ones...Sir M is a fan) to show the four images you can see in the moon to map it - the rabbit, the victorian lady, the basketball player and the cow (a little less obvious than man in the moon). This will be exhibitied with a large scale embroidery of Sir Patrick Moore.

Hunger for Distraction, 20 x 20 magazine, Issue 2

Finally published! In electronic form - links to the issue on here...

http://issuu.com/20x20magazine/docs/20x20_issue_2_issuu

I'm on the final page!

http://www.20x20magazine.com/

Seven inch Martimas time/ Nottanum Town sleeves

You can see a few of mine on this!

This week

The above illustration is a few months old - I didn't post it when I created it, but its for the next issue of 20 x 20 magazine which will be available soon in PDF form. I had a look on their website and saw this in a teeny photo and remembered.

The covers I produced for James Yorkston and The Big Eyes Family Players are on the Domino records website on a slide show - http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/23-06-09/james-yorkston-big-eyes-7-gallery/

I also am moving into a studio this week/weekend in South London with the lovely Alicia and Georgia, hoping to create a little space I can work in. Slightly worried about my money situation, need to start making some more money! However, I am really looking forward to it - I need a bit of my own space to work in.

I've been reading 'Minor Characters' by Joyce Johnson which has been on my 'to read' list for a considerable amount of time. I have been missing California especially and I think my next major project is going to be producing some work that form an embroidered documentary of my two weeks in the US. Sometimes I close my eyes and I see everything illuminated in the quality of light they have there, the June gloom of LA and Southern California, hazy desert hills and dusty freeways, the soft beaches and pale throbbing sunsets. I sort of need to kick start my motivation, being away made me slip into some sort of dream world.

Hibbleton Show

Got back from New York yesterday and have been enjoying the delights of jetlag and waking up confused as to where I am. All three cities - LA, San Fran and NY were so much fun, more so the Californian cities.

Here are some pictures from the 'Golden Hands' Hibbleton Gallery show, which is still on until July the 5th.

Covers

I've done some covers for James Yorkston and The Big Eyes Family Players seven inch release of Martinmas Time and Nottanum Town. 

Amelia's Magazine Shelter Quilt

Here's my submission. A tad obvious you might thing - magpies, but after a lot of thinking about Siamese Twins, heart shaped biscuits and Alice and Wonderland, it seemed the most relevant. Magpies themselves set up a nesting spot with one partner and remain with them unless one of them dies. In reference to humans, it highlights the importance of companionship, perhaps not necessarily in a relationship but within a community.

Where's Nick in the New Jack City.

All you could dream about listening to at once. 

Golden Hands and goodbyes

I saw this today - and the nervous and the sick started to surface. It could be also due to an appalling apple crumble I ate yesterday - it tasted like cleaner. More to the subject, this is the flyer for 'Golden Hands' - a group show featuring the work of Chloe Bonfield, Millie Easton and Jennifer Matignas Pitchers and myself- June 12th -July 5th of this year, the private view begin on the first day 7 - 11pm, so if you're in LA/Orange Country please come along! Hopefully my work will get there, I sent it on Friday via Post Office and it should arrive at the gallery this week. 

This week can be only described as a 'transition' week - I stood at work thinking about how bored I am, and lucky to have an internship which allows me to have a brief break in the working world where I'm not secretly looking at the door and considering running out. I received an email, which was eventually leaked onto the internet that Plan B's next issue in June will be the last. 

I started reading Plan B a few years ago, after browsing the shelves in Borders, during my lunch break in my office job which I hated, despite having one of the nicest bosses you could hope for. The magazine is beautifully designed and written and published articles and interviews with artists I hadn't heard about and I should know. I had previously been a dissatisfied NME reader, buying it on occasion and not really seeing anything new of interest, mostly 'indie landfill', and a one track observation on music. I gave up on it, who really wants to read about Pete Doherty? My sister added this week that Plan B had a nice smell to it and that the NME had the aroma of period...nice.

Plan B magazine was the biscuit selection box of magazines in the music publishing world, showcasing black and white, male and female, dark and light and it will be sadly missed.

'Two for Joy'

New zine to accompany embroideries for Hibbleton Gallery show. I have made up a few so message me if you'd like one - £1.50. 

finished!

Wear polkas at midnight for prosperity and there is a Russian superstition, never give the gift of a purse without money in.