"The Box"

Learning about the bandoneon

"The Box", the peoples instrument, is of course the accordion, but speaking of the box, TV is rubbish - I only have 5 channels so hurray for i player and here's a series that's a dream come true from BBC Scotland, 'The World Accordion to Phil", 4 one hour episodes about the history, travels and evolution of accordion music. Episode 3 is my soul home; France, Bucharest and Russia. Episode 2 is all Celtic and I could skip that one but episode 4 is the Americas ending in Buenos Aires with the tango. The 1st episode starts with the original instrument, China and the accordion factories of Italy. It's a fascinating trail and a lovely host, I think I shall watch them all again, only 6 days left so hurry.

"Endurance"

 I love the name of this wool. I think I bought it in a charity shop some time ago. I've always darned my socks, I must have learned just by watching my mother. Recently she said she couldn't find darning wool in any shops anymore. Shortly afterwards I found some at a car boot sale so I bought all 7 cards for her. Apparently darning's very much back in fashion including many hits to a You Tube guide on how to do it, I found this one. It's really neat, setting up a little weaving grid by stitching.
I also saw a great poster in a fantastic exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, The Children's War, it's encouraging you to reinforce clothes in the hard-wearing areas beforehand rather than waiting for them to wear out. One step ahead of make do and mend. When I was at school the male teachers often had leather patches on their elbows - haven't seen that style for a long time - must be due a revival - lads!?

Great Designs

I wanted to get away from Japan as my sole blog subject simply for variety, not because it's gone out of my thoughts - it hasn't, but then my e-magazine Dezeen arrived with a great feature on speedy responses to the disaster by designers. Do have a look at them.

© Design by Delphine Perrot  2011

Also I'd wanted to contribute to something concerned with rebuilding in Japan, not only the Red Cross and Delphine Perrot designed this logo for donating via Just Giving for Shelterbox's to go to Japan's stricken areas. Use this LINK as I couldn't work out how to make the image into a link (sorry). And look at what's in a Shelterbox, they're amazing, really great inspiring design and emergency aid. Apparently mayors from the worst hit regions have requested temporary shelters because endless days in a communal one can become very stressful. Read more here. Cheerier posts coming soon I promise.

Helping Hands

Today I finished a collage for Edition Paumes in Tokyo. They are a publishing company who produce little books full of inspiring photos of creative homes, people, studios, ideas etc. My studio was in the London Ateliers book, here's a snippet of Otis's appearance.

Responding to the disaster they have asked their friends to produce small drawings etc. to sell at an exhibition in April where all proceeds will go to Japans Red Cross. I learned some things speaking to a friend in Tokyo just before he and his family left for Kyoto. Even if you want to carry on as normal, there is almost no petrol, no food left in the shops, no way of sending blankets and clothes to the North. I will be happy if Japan's disaster goes off the top of the news due to the nuclear plant becoming safe, we are all longing for this news, but I cant stop thinking about all the hungry, traumatised survivors in freezing conditions. Edition Paumes along with their printers will be producing a fund raising post card, I will give info here as soon as I know more about those - I'm sure they will be beautiful.

'Pray for Japan' galerie doux dimanche, Tokyo, April 5th-17th.

Japan Appeal

Watching the news on TV; first showing Japan's nightmare makes it hard to sleep with all those images in your head, then it moves on from natural disaster to people killing each other, I cant help thinking the tsunami should have hit Libya and mangled the tanks and bent all the guns.
Here is The Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal link.

Japan

Thinking of friends in Japan today. Relieved to hear most of my friends there and their families are ok, though some without water or electricity are at least in a safe place now.
It's an uncomfortable position watching this from the sofa, happy to be safe but wishing there was a way to help now directly. I'm sure we all will be able to as appeals unfold this coming week.

Punk Roots in Paris on the Radio

I only recently discovered Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service on BBC 6 Music, what great company from 4-6pm!

The last show's feature was about the roots of Punk in Paris and that aspects of the movement emerging there pre-dated London and New York; certainly the philosophy.  Nothing could be more up my alley on a grey Sunday afternoon in the studio than this programme. Jarvis talks to Andrew Hussey about his BBC Radio 4 programme 'Liberty, Fraternity, Anarchy. Listen again to both but hurry as they usually only last a week. Learn a bit about the Situationists. It's hard to imagine a similar burst of energy happening quite like that again - because we have so much entertainment now, whereas Punk was about creating your own and grew out of boredom and frustration. There weren't the screens to have your face and mind glued to.
It made me think that my chandelier efforts probably developed strongly because I lived without TV for 16 years, making do. Negotiating the deluge of technology and material out there to watch and listen to is daunting and I loathe the amount of trash it's given rise to.
Having said all that I do see the irony of having my face glued to the blogging screen (of my now apparently vintage laptop) discovering programmes like this on live on-line radio!
p.s. indulge me with the photo, I get a childish kick out of seeing my name so large and graphically stylish when in Paris.

In the Thick of It

Don't you admire how cats know where to place themselves and when?
Otis settles on all my to-do lists in the early morning just when I sort them.

And what would they think if I turned up to accordion class with a cat instead?

But then he gives me a good reason not to do the admin jobs....

And he seems quite happy that it still feels like winter in the studio.

Beloved Tools

I love to see the workshops of real artisans and I've just visited my industrious friends Urban Upholstery. I think their work space is even colder than mine! I also love to look at workshop tools and I'd admired a hammer Andrea had, it's the longest slimmest, most elegant hammer I've ever seen. 

It's specially for upholstery and Andrea has used it for decades and wonders how many pins it has served. He has bought a similar advance replacement but actually it doesn't compare well to the original's fine proportions.

I asked him if he had a favourite tool and apart from the hammer he is particularly attached to this webbing-stretcher. It has sentimental value too as it was made by his first teacher who he learned upholstery from in Italy and who's sadly no longer alive. So Andrea has used this all of his working life and re-upholstered the tool itself several times over as it's cover wears out.

Patrizia was busy deconstructing....

......and I want to show you a finished piece of theirs....

Follow their activities by visiting their BLOG here.

Glasses

A friend gave me a box and a bag full of old glasses for Christmas. He works for a theatre company behind the scenes and there was a prop room clear out - so Thanks Steve for nabbing all these for me! I realised alot of these styles don't turn up at charity shops much anymore. These have facets and flat bits like lenses. A few years ago when charity shops started raising their prices I thought it was ok as it's always for a good cause.  More recently they all seem to censor the stuff and there's no junk - some of us were only drawn in by the box on the floor full of unsorted cheap dirty kitchenware! The prices have gone up again and I really don't like the ones that have barely any bric a brac except for a few ikea frames and some candlesticks priced at more than they cost new. I know all you flea marketeering bloggers will agree.

Anyway as someone who donates stuff to charity shops too I don't want to see it over-priced, it's supposed to be for those with less ready cash. Back to the glasses, they're so photogenic, I love the smokey silvery grey colour of the density so I couldn't resist a few family portraits.

Candlelight

Today is a family member's birthday and Candlemass which sounds nice as it's still so wintery and it seems like an excuse to light some cheery candles. However as I'm not really au fait with religious festivals I googled Candlemass and got 'influential Swedish doom metal band'!  Mmm I'll leave that research to another day. I take tealights out of their aluminium containers because they block out light, put them in special glass pots and then in my teacups. The wax illuminates and the light comes through the tea strainers that the cups sit on - it's such a pretty, warm light.  It's another use of my chandeliers to switch off the power and just use the candles - if you hang them lower over a table you can reach easily.

My Unsung Tools

I'm ridiculously reluctant to throw away this scruffy piece of paper - it has served me well. It's my marking out sheet for marking where drill holes go. It's had tea spilled on it, got doodles and tons of wear and tear but it's a faithful friend. Underneath is a new one I made but I don't love it like the old one. Maybe I shall keep it and one day make a collage that is a hommage to much used bits of paper.
I did love geometry when I was at school but I never thought I would use it so much on a daily basis.

Here are some more old friends, I've been through quite a few of these and I'm also reluctant to admit when a block is actually too chewed up to be a good prop and base anymore. I wonder how many holes I've drilled?.......
Was there a tiny bit more daylight today? (and a whopping 1 degree of temperature!) I find I'll have just got in full swing in the studio of an afternoon and find there's only half an hour of daylight left. I wish I could photoshop the sky like I do these photos and just lift the gloom out and brighten it all up.

Flowers on Friday

There hasn't been much good daylight in my studio recently so I haven't photographed things I've wanted to but there's a bit of sunlight now to present this cheery, bright flower painting. I dont actually go looking for these, I just keep an eye out if I'm out hunting for work stuff. Also I dont need them and I dont like walls to be too cluttered, I prefer pictures to have lots of breathing space around them if possible - but at the same time I'm crazy about images. I also got totally seduced by this genre - serious amateur flower painting, this one is particularly splashy and screams sunshine at you. I think it's the one I've paid most for, 30 euros in a bric a brac warehouse in the south of France - but not a bad price for flowers that will last for ever.

Mudlarking

 I found myself at Tate Modern with 15 minutes until they opened, so walking by the river with sun illuminating the wobbley-no-more bridge, I noticed how very low the tide was – just time to do something I’ve always wanted to do – go mudlarking!  I’d heard about the masses of bits of clay pipes you can find and thought I could use them in my work if I found some. Here’s my first haul.  All stem pieces, no bowls but I love their textures and colours.

It’s amazing how old they are, from around 1600 onwards. I got fascinated so googled and found a lot of info on them, I liked Gia’s blog post, really informative and she found a really stunning piece that must be the find of all mudlark finds.
It seems odd to me that they were so disposable, often bought already filled with tobacco and never refilled but thrown away. I think of one-use-disposability as a modern thing, but clearly not. Maybe they blocked too easily with debris? I shall research more; I’m hoping to give mine another lease of life anyway and I may well become hooked on this mudlarking lark.

2011 Recommended

Happy New Year All
I've been trying to catch up on exhibitions in London around this holiday time.
Do go and see The Coral Reef by Mike Nelson at Tate Britain.  I'll tell you nothing, more fun to just go! I chanced upon this, it's not on the Tate website or pamphlets yet it was the best thing I saw at Tate Britain that day. One of the attendants there told me it was on for another couple of months. It's really refreshing to see something profound in contemporary art as I find alot of conceptual art rather bloated.

Kimonos in a Tokyo flea market

Also excellent if it's up your alley is Future Beauty - 30 years of Japanese Fashion, on at the Barbican until the 6th of Feb. Ingenious construction, especially Issey Miyakes pieces seen flat, very inspiring, beyond fashion really.
I must catch Gauguin at Tate Modern, it ends on 16th January.

Flowers Found on a Friday

This year my mother declared "I hate Christmas" within an hour of my arrival. This was quite annoying as I'd really pushed the boat out with her present and bought her a limited edition Ben Hartley print, framed it and carried it with luggage along many icy pavements to get it safely to her. She also said she only had little things for me, no proper present. Ok, each to their own. Thankfully what she lacked in festive spirit the snowy weather more than made up for.

Restaurant Andre by Ben Hartley

On Christmas eve we went shopping and I browsed the bric a brac in a market whilst she sat outside in the sun. Luck struck and I found this irresistable flower painting for a whopping £3, yes!, unbelievable price. It fits my collection perfectly, I love the oriental vase and enthusiasm with the pastey paint. So I bought it and joined her outside and told her I'd found something she could give me for Xmas, she was thrilled and promptly plonked three pound coins in my palm.

Did you eat as much as this guy?...

Or store your treats like this one...

Unseasonal?

For my last post before Christmas I thought I'd go for a less obvious seasonal image - some unseasonal icy eroticism!!
Merry Christmas blog visitors and a Happy New Year. I love the way this weather makes you see everything differently, I found myself in an almost deserted Trafalgar Square early on Saturday just before the huge snowflakes. The fountain pools were partly iced over and icicles were forming on all the fountains. I've lived in London for almost 30 years and never noticed how erotic these statues are before, look, fit body in an open shell with limbs wrapped around slippery dolphins spirting water, and the reason I noticed all this was - funnily enough because of icicles hanging off nether regions!

Ho Ho Ho

And.....
The reason I haven't put a Santa beard on Otis is because I didn't want you to think his moustache was photoshopped - it is all his own!

Favourite Music Days

Two of my favourite days each year are the (free) concert days of our Accordion Orchestra at Morley College - that's right, it's an orchestra made up of accordions only. Yesterday the audience didn't want to leave - we actually left them hungry for more!  I started classes there 4 years ago and joined the Accordions at Morley club fairly soon after. Our musical director and conductor Ian Watson was very patient with us beginners. Anyone out there wanting to start learning; we need more beginners to secure the survival of the beginners class, it's on Mondays at 12.30- 2pm and Julie North is a great teacher.  Adult Education colleges really are the seat of civilised life - they're full of people who choose to learn more. I'm learning Japanese there at the moment too and I've done Photoshop, welding and Portuguese in the past, all fantastic courses. The music department is particularly well developed and varied, many famous composers have worked there; Gustav Holst, Michael Tippett, Vaughn Williams.
Ian just contributed to a very interesting BBC radio 4 programme about the reputation of the accordion called The Big Squeeze, it's well worth a listen and you'll hear classical accordion playing not tinny folksy oom pahs!

Colour schemes

Not so long ago I had a commission for a candles only chandelier from a customer in Germany. I don't often get asked to work with black. I do use it occasionally but as I'm working with light it's not a natural choice. One of the things I like about commissions is that I do work with colour mixes I might not have put together myself. Often I work with paint or fabric swatches or luscious wall paper samples and this is the fun bit, mixing glass and component colours like a paint palette. Here the mix we settled on was black with purple, amethyst and lilac along with smokey grey colours and clear. The shippers got ot to Hamburg by next day delivery and about a day and a half later my lovely customer sent a photo of the piece very speedily and happily installed. Result!

Coping with Snow

Otis is demonstrating his 'coping with cold weather' strategy - here he is busy conserving energy.  He has ventured out briefly though.........

Snow pud anyone?

Others had been on the roof before me

Aspic and Flowers on Friday

How appetising does ‘aspic’ sound? Mmm Yum.  Or does it just suffer from sounding like accrid and anthrax......more delicious than jelly and aspic though is this old box for their moulds, it seems to go perfectly with this flower painting.  I often find I've put things next to each other that match, although the decision is subconscious.
The painting is from a Paris flea market, it was 20 euros when I picked it up and 10 as I put it down, so into the collection it came. I like the damage to it on the right - this is real shabby chic, not fake!

Nuts about Squirrels

 

It's cold enough for my squirrels to return to the kitchen window sill home, but they haven't yet so maybe they wont this winter. The council have cut down one of their trees nearby. Anyway, here's some ingenious refurbishing with a plastic bag on a snowy day that I thought you might enjoy. I spent hours watching these guys, they're so clever.

Flowers on Friday

Here's another find from Portabello Road, nasturtians I think.... I'm always amazed you can still find bargains a) in a time when all cute vintage items are being snapped up and b) on such a well known and touristy market, so the finds feel even more like treasure. Thankfully it's maintained some real junk stalls. This was £10 and I got it with the one in a previous post so it's also had the white paint treatment. Luckily it is under glass so the splashed paint scraped off easily and now I'm scratching it off the frame to see where that takes me.

I had to share this......

I heard this on the Robert Elms show on BBC Radio London 94.9 fm and it made my day, so incase you cant or don't listen.......a lady contacted the show (which can solve London mysteries) telling how she had parked in Soho and paid and displayed etc., when she returned to her car she was perplexed to see a ticket had been served. On unfolding the ticket she found it was congratulating her on her Fine Parking!!!!!!
Well it's one thing to have a lovely idea but it's another to spend time putting it into action to bring a smile and a chuckle to an unwitting recipient. Doesn't that make your heart sing?

The follow up on todays show revealed the issuers intentions were to reverse the emotion of receiving a parking ticket and declared it a 'subversive installation'. This was thought up and put into action by Three Green Dots. Lovely. Oh and the sleepy animals have nothing to do with this, just looking for something to go with 'Fine Parking' amongst my Tokyo snaps, to extend the joy this story brings on an otherwise grey day!

Decorative Art Sale

Wilson Stephens Decorative Art are having their November Sale on 18/19/20th of this month. If you fancy some Christmas shopping from a very fine selection of objects for the home, this is the place. There's a mixture of contemporary prints and vintage finds, all very seductive so beware and take your cheque book! You may spot some familiar chandeliers there too. It's taking place at 11 Cavendish Road, London NW6 7XT, 10-9pm Thurs, 10-6 Fri/Sat, do check their website for further details.

Foxes and Cherries

Lucy Casson makes creatures and scenes form recycled metals. Her smaller pieces are from tin but she does alot of larger scale outdoor projects these days and now we're lucky enough to have one of her sculptures in Brixton Market. This is on the corner of Electric Avenue and Electric Lane. The foxes are made of copper, I love how one of them is looking at the CCTV camera. You can see some of her smaller works at Rebecca Hossack Gallery in London until 24th November. I met Lucy many years ago and she helped me get my foot in the door of exhibiting in the recyled art, craft and design world. She doesn't have (or need!) a website but you can find plenty of images of her work on line; I recommend a look as she has so many lovely ideas and sense of humour.

Flowers on Friday

I bought this flower painting on Portabello Rd market for £15 last week. I think some people have taken this 'fake shabby chic' thing too far. The frame had recently been painted a bluey white in household gloss - and gone on to the painting itself. I'm now starting to scrape it off. I'm not sure how it'll end up as the wood may not look great either but I can definitely improve on the current paintwork.

I seem to be collecting old flower paintings. The first one I found is this little one on wood. It was about 5 euros at Clignancourt flea market in Paris. I found it in a box on one of those huge rambling stalls with banana boxes full of junk. I love it because it's naive and sophisticated at the same time (like alot of so called naive art). The colour range is so rich and restrained. I think I have 8 or 9 paintings in this collection now and I think I'll show them all over time on Flowers on Friday.