Nostalgia : n.1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past

I am really obssessed with nostalgia, I cant stop myself buying anything that reminds me of either my grandmas house or where I lived when I was a little girl. I love anything that evokes that lost feeling. I think the last show I visited by Kirsty E Smith also rekindled my love of anything kitsch. These two videos seem to be really relevant to me right now, I think the first has a great nostalgic feeling, the second just reminds how fantastic simplicity can be sometimes, I am just starting to do a bit of stop motion animation and It really can be best to stick to basics with good camera shots.

Close Encounters of a Frillip Moolog Kind

I recently visisted the Solihull Gallery to see Kirsty .E. Smiths exhibition, I was impressed by her work and left feeling newly inspired, I have been focusing on animating recently and it was good to see some exciting installations.

You can read my review here- www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/578995

Old books

Literature and old books have been inspirations of mine for a long time, I think there is something so nostalgic and wise about an old book. I have been rooting for this image for a very long time and I finally came across it in this months elle. It was Flabbergasting! Anyway this is she, Su Blackwell and she is absolutely amazing.








Heres a few of mine

I'm working on a group project where we intend to exhibit within empty and disused spaces such as shop fronts and abandoned churches. This is the blog - http://www.nottsandbolt.blogspot./
This is going to include lots of new work !

Utopian Shed

My exhibition is finally over, I have presented and now I just need to document the process which is hard going but satisfying. After my uber inspiring 'Site Specific,' workshop I decided to throw caution to the wind and remove myself from the studio environment completely. I can honestly say this was the best decision i made all year, the sheds dilapidated quality made the piece more beautiful and gave the site an eerie and other worldly feel. In fact, a member of the viewing audience compared it to the wardrobe in Narnia which I was absolutely ecstatic to hear. I have decided to upload the images of my final piece as well as introducing you to the next stage of my work. I have entered a group project at this part of the module which is really exciting, I'll fill you in after these images :) enjoy!

The last image with the small dark dots are hole punches of old book pages suspended by invisible thread. In real life they look like cobwebs, my own little Susan Collis moment! The total amount of paperclips is still up in the air but I reckon there are over 5 thousand paperclips in total. The group project has really got me a bit goosepimply, we are going to create an exhibition in an abandoned building, whether that be an empty shop window, an old church or a derelict site. Our name is BOLT and we are curating the exhibition around the idea of a 'key.' I'm considering using keyholes as my own personal starting point; I like the idea of catching a glimpse of something, but not really knowing what lies behind that closed door. This group is already living the dream, we just have to make our own happen now. Take a quick look and I'll post again soon :) http://www.artistsandmakers.com/index.php?topic=artistsmakers

Childlike Meanderings

In a recent exhibition that I 'invigilated,' I was reading through a book of Utopian theory and ideaology and taking notes on Freuds hilariously out of date views when I started to wonder about personal Utopias yet again. As the basis of my 'world inside shoes,' project The theme of Utopias is one that really excites me. I made a nice collection of other peole havens and dreams and started to build models of these worlds as best I could. I had a particularly successful distopia which I created out of discarded computer parts. This formed an urban skyline which photographed really well. This Utopia is from the mind of my little brother who was 11 at the time. I can only take a smidgen of the credit :)

P.S He was extremely dissapointd that I used a glue gun, in his utopia, everything is stuck together with syrup.

Just for thrills, here's a fantastic artist whose creations always transport me to a personal utopia. Sarah Sze is where I draw a lot of my inspiration from, she is the reason I have spent over £40 on coloured paperclips, and more importantly the reason I have painstakingly twisted each one creating a mass of spiralled coloured wire. I will explain all this at a later date, for now just enjoy the transportation.

Embracing the elements

Rifling way in a mountain of my stored away sketchbooks; I discovered this ink drawing. I am really fond of the style and the characterisation. The sketchbook was a short project on how we 'charactarize,' images, drawings and even actors. I think it was after watching 'Lemony Snicket,' which I was really shocked to discover wasn't directed or animated by Tim Burton.

And then for a reflection on the sheer power of the human brain, and the assurance that their are still Einsteins in the world ; Theo Jansen, an amazing kinetic sculptor, please watch this he is incredible.

Attatched to the Orient

An Ode to strange inspirations; my obsession with japanese drawings has driven me to purchase this beautiful dress off ebay. Bit of an e-bay noobie, I am eagerly awaiting the beautiful pattern which I can both pour over and wear. (perfect)

I Had to post about this legendary artist. Xenz is an inspirational graffitti artist based in the uk, he has a current exhibition in Bristol which looks fantastic. His murals are beautiful and his newer work on antique objects is really worth a look at. All his work is up at

http://www.xenz.org/

Nostalgia, a funny thing.

As a person who battles with herself on a regular basis, I find it very easy to dismiss work especially when it has recieved critiscm. I'm an overthinker and a sporadic creator, disorganized, hopelessley romantic, all in all an artist through to the bone. My obsessions with old books spark, I think from a hunger for literature which I had as a child. My imaginary dinner party would hold guests such as roald dahl, quentin blake, gulliver from lilliput, the insects from james and the giant peach, the famous five, alice and of course pantamilion and Lyra. These are images from my fondest projects, one that I am really just coming to terms with almost a year later. The creation of an entire world inside one musty boot. I hope you enjoy my crazy meanderings. Any questions, please ask I will be flattered.

Thankyou,