Bye bye donkeys

I read an article in the Metro recently that had me slightly inscenced. This would be the free tube newspaper that takes me hours to find one without another person attached to - or sitting on - it. It was a teeny tiny paragraph which I tore out but lost very quickly as it rivaled a postage stamp in square footage. It described (as best as a text that size could) the recent end to donkey rides on Margate sea front, and so of course I was instantly interested. I looked up the story online when I got home and was pretty surprised that I had not heard of it before. Not only are the donkeys leaving the shoreline this summer, but Margate was the first resort to ever introduce donkey rides as seaside entertainment back in the 1890's!!! And now they are leaving. Margate's donkey man has his own completely understandable reasons for ending the rides, but it seems so sad to lose another part of our heritage from the local shoreline. There is talk of the council taking over the franchise but I have a very unfounded feeling that perhaps not a lot of good would come from that move. After all, surely a job such as that is one done for enjoyment and not for extreme, target-busting profit. So goodbye to the donkeys, for now. They say the deck chairs are next, due to a terrible summer and increased council rates. People (local or otherwise) don't utilise or respect the fantastic things we have available to us enough. Hopefully they will be back soon, and fronted by another enthusiast like the previous one!

On a lighter note, the website has been updated again today!

Up late Tuesday.

Todays drawing, just a doodle - not a very interesting one and poorly shot at that. I have been busy today. I have prepared more Formica pieces, organised silks for new cushions, sourced materials, tested the dyes (starting up a whole new dye recipe book), updated emails, stopped to have some nachos, dyed said silk pieces, designed the prints for the new cushions, doodled, blogged,... and its now a quarter to 2am! That is more LIKE it! I have that tired and zoned out feeling that you get when you can stop working because it is all going so well. Tomorrow will suffer for it, but I'm pleased with what I've done today and you just can't beat that.

Busy day

Today I went to meet a lovely lady called Janet and viewed her oh-so-nearly-finished artist studios in Margate. They are in the old town part as she is renovating the old Pie Factory there. It's brilliant!!! They are going to be a hub of creative designers and artists upstairs and a bistro/gallery downstairs. So fingers crossed, the Margate girl will soon be truly that again! I then met up with Heather Sawney who is the Arts Development Officer for Thanet Council and we had a coffee and an insightful chat. I have not recently met someone so dedicated and enthusiastic about their job, she is a real inspiration to be around. (From the number of people that stopped to talk to her on our morning together - she seems an absolute essential to the local artists and designers too.) She is setting up a very important website that will showcase the work of designers, artists, and makers in our part of the South East called 'Isle Arts', it is looking really great so far.


Just another doodle as like the title reads, busy day. I have travelled down to Bournemouth for the weekend to visit my dear Nana, she is the young lady on the left, people often get us mixed up....

TENT london 2008 & Dezeen.com

News news news!! I have this week found out that I have won a place at 'talentzone' at this years Tent London - an uber cool contemporary design fair during September. I received the email this week but waited for confirmation before I believed I was one of the 15 selected...but it's true! here is a bit of blurb below:

''Talent Zone is the area where the next generation of designers whose ideas will shape our future world can be found. Tent London and Dezeen have co-curated an exhibition where 15 of the hottest graduates will be showcased during London Design Festival.''

Fantastic news, I am very excited. They have posted images of my work on the site in the section entitled 'Talentzone exhibitors'. My work has also been posted onto Dezeen.com - an online magazine (and design bible) that is run by the guest curator of the show, Marcus Fairs. I am really pleased to have my work on there as I check the site constantly for design news, and now you can see the Margate drawers there with all the other interesting updates!! Brilliant stuff. So... all who are free between the 18-21 September must must must come and see me and say hello, I may even have some of the Margate rock again.... :D

Here is todays drawing. Tom and I were watching a telly programme the other night all about organic farming in England (I swear I'm not saying this to sound like we do this all the time - because we don't!) and a farm down the road from him got a 10 minute feature. Its a place he drives past every day, 'Roots of Rushwick' in Worcester, but see it on the television and oh MY that is a different story! I was thinking about how excited he was not-quite-but-nearly seeing his house on the telly and it cracked me up again so I drew this picture today.

Tuesday drawing

Boyfriend's birthday yesterday so was only allowed a quick bit of computer admin and no time for posting. Managed to do a bit of doodling though and put something together. Again, no reason for the subject, but looking at it now I must have been thinking about the idea of growing up. It could also reflect just how hard I've been working recently too!

A drawing a day

Hmmkay. I have taken it upon myself to start a mid year resolution. I am going to try and find the time to make more drawings, for as long as possible and for absolutely no other reason at all apart from I think it is a fun idea. They might be doodles, scribbles, oil painted masterpieces, or if I'm poorly - perhaps just a shape made in croutons in my soup. However, the commitment is there, lets see how this goes....

Day one. Monday 18th Aug 2007
No particular reason for the subject, as will be the case for most of the posts, but I thought I would scribble a Stag. As per usual things developed, and I decided to put it on a screen. Originally the idea was to make some prints on paper but I ended up printing it onto a tee shirt instead! I think I will give this to my lovely boy for his birthday (hence a song quote on the inside of the neck) but may pull a few more as it's still on the screen.

So, drawing number one got quite productive! I will NOT be doing this every time....I don't think.... :D