REPAIRS

Poundland epoxy = poor girl's cobbler.

EMBROIDERED EGON

Schiele drawing nude before mirror, 1910

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Crisp white linen is great but I get bored easily so I embroidered some pillowcases with naked ladies and Eastenders quotes. The first is after one of my favourite Schiele drawings.

The second is Albert Square's most stylish resident Dot Cotton chastising her sister.

SUNGLASSES

There is something to be said for huge sunglasses, whether you're using them to shield hungover eyes and avoid paps or, like me, you have a deceptively large head and wear them out of necessity.

John Currin's wife (above 'Rachel in Fur', 2002) is a great poster girl for oversized shades.

WHITE HEAT PYJAMAS

I have the same pyjamas as Jay from the current BBC drama 'White Heat' set in 1967.

I suppose thats what happens when you buy mens pyjamas from charity shops...

YARMOUTH DARLING

MAHOGANY

Image from Them Thangs blog

I previously wrote about the bankers from Mary Poppins and I couldn't resist this image, I think they would look just right around this French polished table surrounded by like minded souls below a coffered ceiling.

BRIGHTON CYBERDOGS

I've posted this before but it makes me seriously happy even though its a sunday night. I went to Brighton this weekend, sadly this time we didn't quite make it to 'Cyber Dog', (Brighton's best shop) which sells 'futuristic fashion and clubwear'. Check it out at your own peril because heads up the future looks terrible.

















   

If this video makes you sick, you're obviously a nutter but Charlie Brooker's article about how clubs are 'insufferable dungeons of misery' should be right up your street.

ALTERNATIVE LITTLE BLACK BOOK

An alternative/aggressive little black book - think I'll stick to the moleskine thanks.

KEVLAR

I wish I knew more about what the things around me are made of. Invented in the sixties, Kevlar is versatile enough to be used for bulletproof vests and racing sails - incredible that something can power boats and stop bullets in their tracks.

p.s. I saw the Prada boat racing around the Isle of Wight a few years ago and I was convinced, binoculars in hand, that all their sailors were male models (they weren't winning). If anybody can shed any light on this I am extremely curious.

PINK MOMENT

My last three purchases have been pink. A 25p fan, the neon pink kids jumper above and a layered orange and hot pink Guess skirt from £2 retro. 

I also have my eye on this dress Keats' love wears in 'Bright Star' but sadly I think its not to be.

Click here for another pink post.

GAVIN TURK & VALESKA SOARES

Valeska Soares, Duet, 2008 Marble.

Gavin Turk, Habitat, 2004. Painted bronze.


I particularly remember seeing one of Gavin Turk's series of sleeping bags at the bottom of a staircase at a gallery (Wallace Collection or perhaps the Royal Academy) and marvelling at its realism. The two sculptures stir completely different reactions, despite both alluding to sleep - it is hard to look at the pieces side by side without considering the disparity between the imagined sleepers.

I wonder which work would be more popular in a poll of gallery visitors? I am inclined to think Valeska Soares' pillows because they are easier to look at compared to Turk's evocation of a cold vulnerable night. Turk's work makes me thankful that, like the majority of gallery visitors, I am lucky enough to be more familiar with a crumpled pillow with a high thread count than a threadbare sleeping bag gleaming with grime.


While working in the White Cube archives I came across a book which had invited writers to provide an accompaniment to the work, this was poet Vive Griffith's response to 'Duet':

ART X FASHION?

A lot of people bang on about the way fashion and art are inextricably linked etc. For the most part I'm inclined to consider them as two separate entities but I was pleasantly surprised by these dresses. Made by Mother of Pearl in collaboration with artist John Currin, these dresses are the most literal collaboration and are a great success for it. 

I like to think my tshirt is along the same lines.

JAKE AND DINOS CHAPMAN

Is it just me that sees more than a little Jake and Dinos Chapman in the 19thC lithograph above?

Reworked etchings from Goya's 'Los Caprichos' series left.

MICHAEL KORS SS06

Michael Kors ss06 - such a fantastic show. I am a big lover of camouflage (see earlier post) and think it fully deserves to share a runway with layered tulle and Spanish hats.

ROAD TRIP

I couldn't be more excited about the road trip I am going on this summer with my friend Lizzie and her family. We will be going through Nevada and visiting Las Vegas so I bought these heels in preparation.  I can't wait to wear them with tanned pins, a white dress and a fistful of dollar bills. 

Hockney's photomontages (Pearblossom Highway, 1986 below) and his recent paintings of Yosemite have inspired me to splash some cash on a disposable camera and make my own photomontage of the canyons. 

...Watch this space.

Fingers crossed the Morrissey tattoo on my foot won't distract from my Americana vibes - I'm hoping more prairie-girl-in-the-big-city than white trash.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

My friend Tegen of Young Paint made me this fantastic birthday picture featuring my main men Morrissey, Biggie and Kurt.

So great that I thought it was worth sharing - ridiculous expression and all.

OH ME OH MY

Oh me oh my, these high priestess baroque style gold capes at Dolce & Gabbana AW12 are something else. Perfect for charging round a city like Valletta (below) late at night on the way to a clandestine liason...

CRYSTAL JEWELLERY

Yesterdays jewellery.

Purple leather necklace from Zara, necklace of collected charms. Assorted (overexposed) gold rings. The blue crystal number is my latest addition from the Astrology shop on Neal Street, which is one of the funniest shops I've ever been to.Had there not been a woman in there already wittering on about her life chart I would have liked to have a chat with the staff who seemed very knowledgeable. I also visited Mysteries on Monmouth Street which had a fantastic back room (below). I plan to return and buy some candles very soon.

FREUD'S ZEBRAS

I went to see Lucian Freud portraits at the National Portrait Gallery this monday and I couldn't recommend it more highly. They have 500 tickets on the door each day so if you're not organised with booking (like me) you have no excuse.

Apart from all the fantastic portraits, at the end I was rifling through books and found these two images which are just brilliant. What I would do for my own taxidermy zebra.

 [ Zebra Head with Unicorn Horn, 1943 ] Other Freud posts

GANG TANGENTS

Everyday in the Evening Standard there are new articles about London's escalating gang problem which, to state the cripplingly obvious, pales in comparison to virtually any major city America.
The first I ever heard of gangs was my brother (coincidentally sitting on an antique sofa in West London wearing a Chicago Bulls hat) teaching me how to do the Bloods sign. My brother and his friends were particularly interested in and had an impressive working knowledge of gangs across America.

I can't quite believe that such high profile rappers openly affiliate themselves with gangs, such as Snoop Dogg the crip (none too subtle on the left).

I'm not sure if many people will be with me on this, but this image of Snoop demonstrating the crip walk reminded me of Victorian photographer Eadweard Muybridge.

HAPPY ST. DAVIDS DAY!