au revoir summer

Hello, ‘Ooh la Lapin’ has been on holiday for the past 2 weeks in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales having a splendid time!

We visited some wonderful places and spent most of our time with our lovely family at there house ‘Fawcett Bank’

Fawcett Bank

I even managed to get some work done by producing a ‘hare’ made by hand, even down to the felt. Some the felt was comprised of ‘Heathcliff’ the Alpaca who lives on a farm near our parents. The hare will make part of a 3D textile piece I am working on, a forest enclosed in a box frame.

I also adore Farfield Mill

click here.

It is a great gallery and workspace for so many artists and makers and I would be really honored to make any sort of contribution to this place. I really enjoyed the current exhibition by Norah Ball.

Many cups of tea were drunk, ginger bread consumed, knitting, felting, sewing, walking and a good time was had by all!

cult of cute

Cuteness is distinct from beauty, researchers say, emphasizing rounded over sculptured, soft over refined, clumsy over quick. Beauty attracts admiration and demands a pedestal; cuteness attracts affection and demands a lap. Beauty is rare and brutal, despoiled by a single pimple. Cuteness is commonplace and generous, content on occasion to co-segregate with homeliness.

The Cute Factor, New York Times, Jam 2003

taking photos in trees

Portuguese artist Carla Cruz with her altered tapestry, European Dream (2005), at Plumba Contemporary Art, Oporto.

Im really looking forward to learning tapestry skills later this year, I think it will be the perfect Autumn activity. Recently I have been working a lot, not on my own art but instead in art education, which I absolutely love. I realised that a fantastic project   heart 2 art, finishes next week.

This is a Horatio Nelson as a rabbit, it is exploring my obsession with the ‘cult of cute’. It was my dream piece of public art work for Portsmouth!

So I will endeavor to find more time to work on the ‘cult of cute’ to produce enough work to exhibit. Heart 2 Art has been amazing and I have loved every minute. I need to finish off a dress this weekend for the project so I will post some pics really soon!

Looking back

Last night I was looking back at some of the first pieces I created about 3 years ago, kinda cute…

collage cow

Today we created a giant collage cow, yes its way cool.

ta da!

swap it

Watch this space, coming soon… etc etc

In the UK, one million tonnes of textiles go to landfill every year as the majority of people prefer to buy new clothes instead of re-using and reinvigorating old ones. Only 25% of textiles are recycled here, and with the production of non-organic cotton in particular demanding a huge amount of pesticides, the benefits of giving old clothes a new life are stark.

Wendy Tremayne, the founder of Swap-O-Rama-Rama, agrees there is a deeper reason behind its popularity. “We’re getting sick and tired of consumerism and a world that’s steeped in marketing, a commodified world. But then there is the question of how does one see a way out of it? Swap-O-Rama-Rama, while being a clothing swap at the core, is an event where people make and modify clothing. They learn to be creators rather than consumers.”

Email me Oohlalapin@gmail.com if you want to get involved.

Its a non profit clothes swapping event with crafters on hand e.g screen printers, sewers etc to help you customise and up cycle pieces if the mood takes you!

stuck indoors summer.

Hello my little lapins!

So the summer holidays are upon us and my eldest has chicken pox, so I havent left the home for days and have been caring for the poor little chap. My daughter and I have been trying to keep ourselves busy, or rather I have been trying really hard to stop her uttering those dreadful words ”I’m bored”.

I found some lovely recipe’s on a great site called ‘Smitten Kitchen’ which is really gorgeous.
jalepeno and chesse scones.

A great way to start using those summer tomatoes and lovely with the scones

scalloped tomatoes.

So we have been busy baking and cooking. We have also been making bracelets and necklaces form my old necklaces. Just cut the necklace and mix and match with other old beads to create new creations. I really should do some sewing though as I have some orders to complete.

I also recently celebrated becoming self employed, I am now a freelance artist, hurrah! Creating an invoice for the city council was a strange new world, its still surreal getting paid for doing something you love!