I think this is real but even if it's a hoax, it's still absolutely wonderful.
Tag Archives: links
Links Of The Day
It's a beautiful sunny day and I need to make the most of the light by getting up the studio and then out to the garden. I'll be writing a proper post later but in the meantime, have some fun stuff.
I have written about my love for sheds on this blog before and I know I am not alone in my admiration for this humble structure - check out this great song about sheds by Cardiff band, Punks Not Dad.
If only it was really this easy to make money from art! Sean The Sheep shows us how it's done.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal absolutely nails the art world.
A pointed cartoon about the gallery system.
The Childbirth Song by the very talented Helen Austin - not particularly worksafe but it makes me howl with comedy of recognition.
If I'm getting a bit up myself, I listen to King Missile's song Sensitive Artist to bring me back down to earth - song here, lyrics here.
Shed Love
It's National Shed Week. What, you didn't know that Britain has a National Shed Week? Shame on you! There's a blog and everything.
The winner of this year's best shed competition is Tim, a man who has combined two great British passions to create a Pub Shed.
Images from readersheds.co.uk
This isn't the only pub shed I've heard about; a friend of my mum and dad has a small 'cricket pavillion' shed in his garden, complete with beer on tap. And yes, there is also an area to play cricket, although I believe that they often go straight to the beer part. You have to make your own entertainment when you live in a small Scottish village...
There are a ton of other inventive sheds on the shed website. including this fabulous Tardis one.
Image from readersheds.co.uk
In fact, there are so many Tardis sheds that they have their own category. but I particularly like this one because of this quote from the female owner, "I don't think of it as just a shed - more a David Tennant trap."
Some of their sheds are a bit posh but as a fan of wabi-sabi, I prefer the more ramshackle versions like this one or this. Some sheds are particularly organic. This one makes me envious - I'd absolutely love it if mine had a living turf roof but it's pretty far down the list of gardening priorities.
And of course, we can't talk about sheds without mentioning some art inspired by the humble shed.
I find most traditional shed paintings a little boring but I was quite taken with the naive style of allotment painter, Chris Cyprus.
Simon Thackray's photograph of his shed door inspired him to start The Shed, an unusual series of music, poetry and art events in his small rural community.
Simon Starling's Turner Prize winning installation, Shedboatshed started life as a Swiss shed that he turned into a boat.
Image from Tate website, unknown photographer
He sailed the resulting boat containing the remaining shed parts down the Rhine to the venue where he was exhibiting before rebuilding it into a shed. I have to say that the confidence of this project impresses me, I'm not entirely sure I'd want to set sail in anything I'd built! Loathe as I am to link to the Mirror newspaper, this attempt to replicate the project made me laugh.
Cornelia Parker's famous piece Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View involved the British Army blowing up a garden shed that Parker had filled with a collection of objects sourced from jumble sales, charity shops and the sheds of the artist and her friends. The resulting charred remains were collected and hung around a single light bulb.
Images from Tate website, unknown photographer
Sheds, what's not to love?
Sunday Links
Hooray, I've cleared out my links folder. Of course, I still have another two to get through but at least one of the three is empty.
ART
Beautiful microscopic photographs of sand from scientist and artist, Dr. Gary Greenberg.
An elaborate and intricate laser-cut book from artist, Olafur Eliasson
Arthur Ganson makes strange mechanical scupltures.
Tips on being an environmentally aware photographer.
I'm loving Poppytalk's series of interviews with artists about their studio spaces.
Amy over at Life Craft makes intriguing collages and assemblages.
Miwa Koizumi makes ethereal sea creatures from plastic bottles.
There's a ton of drawing lessons over on Drawspace.
I like J.T. Kirkland's pierced wood drawings. He also has a great blog called Thinking About Art.
Reya Veltman makes very lovely pebbles covered with felt. Link found on the excellent This Is Love Forever blog.
RANDOM STUFF
Off-Grid is an excellent environmental site. I was particularly fascinated by this story about Microbial Fuel Cells, which use a combination of very basic technology and the energy given off by soil microbes to provide electricity.
A fascinating collection of objects found under the floorboards of an old British house that's being renovated.
An alphabet made from clothes pegs shaping flesh - ouch!
Animals in formalin - what's not to like?
25 Amazing Everyday Do It Yourself Inventions - the fangs made from a plastic fork are my favourite.
Lost caverns and buried cities from the excellent Web Urbanist.
Ladders made especially for cats - who knew such a thing even existed?
FUNNIES
Andre Jordan's pointed cartoons about disability always make me laugh.
Cookie Monster faces his cookie addiction and asks 'Is Me Really Monster?'
Ah, real comedy of recognition here - The Artist's Decision Tree
Not at all seasonal but as a knitter, this photo story about Christmas sweaters made me laugh a lot and gave me 80's flashbacks!
A Day On The Links
Time for a load of links again, as usual I've been keeping a stack of these.
Art Opportunities And Events
S1 Artspace in Sheffield is hosting its third annual residency. The residency takes place over ten weeks from 19th July - 28th September, to be followed by a solo exhibition in October - November 2008 and the deadline is May 8th, so if you're interested you'd better apply soon. I can't apply but it looks like a good opportunity (it's paid!) and it's open to both British and international artists.
criticalnetwork is a new resource for UK and Ireland-based artists, activists, art organisations, cultural critics and the public, launched Feb 2007. Their focus is on "critical and contextual art, events and discussion" and you can sign up for a weekly newsletter of opportunities and events.
The Spike Island Open is coming up next weekend. If you're close to Bristol, the launch party is on Friday 2 May from 6- 9pm with an After Party from 9-11pm. It continues from Saturday 3 – Monday 5 May 11am-6pm. It's a popular and busy event that's usually worth a visit and I'll be there on the Friday evening if anyone wants to meet up. If I have the energy, I may also be hanging out in the Associate Space on the Sunday afternoon but it's doubtful.
My friend Sarah B is doing some great curating work up in Cheltenham with the meantime project and I believe they're always looking for interesting proposals.
The Here Shop is looking for amazing original crafters or anyone else who makes fantastic things, to use one of their shop windows on a monthly basis to showcase your works for sale. Email them at shopATthingsfromhere.co.uk or drop in some samples of your work and a plan of what you’d like to do. Click here for pics and a plan of the window.
Other Art Links
A lovely article entitled Art Is Medicine For The Soul
Harry White Design make excellent measuring jugs and I love his million dots print.
Do You Buy Art - an excellent article by artist, Lisa Call (her blog is great btw, you should read it).
Photographer Daniel Sroka, whose beautiful macro work I very much enjoy, has an interesting offer where you can buy a print of a work in progress and later upgrade so you wind up with two prints for the price of one. Cunning.
A celebration of the professional artist by Barney Davey.
Art Found Out is a blog dedicated to "artists who are informed by the world around them or driven by a highly personal artistic vision." I like this blog but I'd like it even more if it had more entries on a page, having to click back after every entry is a bit annoying. I spotted this amazing looking book called Grandfather's Envelopes on it - I want a copy of this Japanese book so badly but unfortunately haven't been able to find any websites in English that sell it.
Advice from Alyson Stanfield on how to get out of an art slump. I need to follow some of this!
A couple from Empty Easel blog - a cheap and easy way to make a paintbrush cleaning jar and 8 Sensible Projects for Artists (I should be doing some of these too!)
Random Stuff
The Anti-Pragmatic Manifesto from the always interesting Cabinet Of Wonders
One for the Firefly fans - a couple of speeches from the film Serenity done in Shakespearean verse. I salute my fellow Browncoats...
An epic failure in packaging from the delightfully silly Fail Blog.
Beckett For Babies made me laugh.
Making My Day
Before I went to Australia I was lucky enough to get two You Make My Day awards. The first was from the lovely Cally, who's been mentioned here several times in the past. The second was from Australian artist, Feed The Dog (check out her gorgeous cushions on Etsy).
Thank you both, I appreciate it and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond.
"You make my day-Award" works like this:
1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3. Display the "You Make my Day Award" logo. (Optional)
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.
So I now need to pass on the favour and give them out to five other people. Not all of these are blogs but they are all sites that I regularly visit and get excited about.
You Make My Day Awards
I've written about Suzi Blu before and I'm still a big fan. Her videos make me laugh but they also inspire me to get off my butt and into the studio. I admire her sense of fun, her utter passion about art and creativity and the way she just gets on and does things.
I love Elsa Mora's quirky style. Elsa is a prolific and dedicated blogger and I admire the commitment and honesty she brings to writing about both her art and her life.
Eliza from Back Yard is to blame for getting me into the 101 Things meme and for that she certainly deserves an award! She's been quite unwell lately but before appendicitis struck (ow, get better soon Eliza), she was blogging up a storm about her creative process.
Goblins are traditionally the low level bad guys in role playing and video games - just there to be killed for points. Goblins is a wonderful web comic that turns that convention on its head and explores life from their point of view. I once had a dream where I was Queen Of The Goblins, so it makes me happy to see my little guys getting the love they deserve. Funny, poignant, hard hitting and beautifully drawn and written, this comic continually amazes me with its quality. Although it's far from daily, it always makes my day when a new episode appears and it's well worth your time to start at the beginning of the archives and catch up with the story so far.
If you're a knitter, crocheter or otherwise interested in fibre arts and you haven't signed up for Ravelry yet, you absolutely must. I love it there and spend far too much time on the forums when I should be in my studio (bad, naughty artist!)
So there you go, 5 great places to check out on this lovely Sunday afternoon. I'm suitably inspired: I'm going upstairs to my studio to get cracking with some work - or at least some tidying!
Must Read Blogs
Wow, Dan at Empty Easel has included this blog in his 8 Must-read Art Blogs for 2008.
I'm hugely and immensely flattered to have been selected, especially since I'm in such illustrious company (please do head over to the link and check out the other blogs mentioned, they're all worth a look).
Here's what Dan wrote about me:
"Up all Night Again - This elegantly designed blog is authored by Kirsty Hall, an artist and art curator from the UK. Not only will you find frequent updates about her life and art but also some excellent articles for artists just starting out online."
OK, I'm blushing now...
Of course, I am not responsible for the elegant design - the credit for that goes to my talented web designer, Steve Taylor. If you're in the market for an art website, he does fantastic work and is very easy to work with: I highly recommend him. In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that Steve is a personal friend whom I've known for many years but he is also superb at what he does.
.......
Dan also encourages us all to make our own lists of Must Read Art Blogs, so here are mine. Of course, there are loads of other wonderful art blogs that I read as well but these 8 very different blogs are the ones that I absolutely wouldn't be without. My criteria: blogs that are updated on a regular basis and inspire me either visually, intellectually or preferably both.
My 8 Must Read Art Blogs for 2008
Dear Ada is one of my daily reads, she always has links to great artists and she's genuinely enthusiastic and insightful about the art she promotes. Since we seem to have quite similar tastes, the artists I link to on this blog are often ones I've seen first on her blog (so thanks for that, Ada!).
Cally Creates - I know that Cally thinks she hasn't been a very good blogger recently because she's been so ill but she's still one of my absolute favourite art reads. I love her photos and the way she writes about her own and other people's art is always real, honest and engaging.
Suzi Blu - I just love her funny, quirky videos on life, art and journalling: I find her 'just do it' attitude very refreshing and inspirational.
Making A Mark - I'm with Dan on this one, Katherine Tyrrell is a definite must-read for the depth of her knowledge and her considered articles on the art world and her own and other artists' work. Sit down with a cup of tea and a biscuit and enjoy her posts, which are often longer than the average blogger but well worth your time.
ArtBizBlog - Alyson Stanfield writes and podcasts about all aspects of the business side of art. I know many of us groan when we hear the words 'business' but Alyson consistently makes it seem both interesting and achievable.
Gaping Void is a consistently high quality blog from successful cartoonist, Hugh MacLeod. He's made a career out of drawing cartoons on the back of business cards but I like his writing too. His posts always makes me think and I like that he's coming at the world of art from such a different direction to me.
Ursula Vernon never fails to make me laugh. I've been following her blog on Livejournal for several years now and it's great to see her becoming more successful with every passing year. As talented a writer as she is in visual art, she makes very different art to me but I love her stuff because it's funny, well done and she's never embarrassed by the fact that her muse drives her to paint peculiar vegetables, cute but perplexed animals and wombats.
Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien - This is in French and sadly I don't speak more than a couple of words but it's never marred my enjoyment of this gloriously illustrated blog.
So that's my 8, anyone else fancy posting their lists? If you do, then Dan would like to hear from you.
Friday Round-Up
I've found so many stories and links that I'd slung into the folders on my desktop, that the only way to get through them is to do a bit of a round-up. Maybe I'll make this a weekly feature since I always seem to find far more than will comfortably fit into my regular blogging schedule.
Links
Nick from The Boat Lullabies blog found a fascinating photographic history in a thrift store.
Bob collects pencils - lots and lots of brand name pencils. Now, I like pencils as much as the next artist but this strikes even me as a tad odd. It is a well done site though - I like the regularity of the design and you know what, Bob's right, these pencils are kind of beautiful when you see them all en masse.
Photographer Helga Steppan, organised all her belongings by colour - the results are stunning.
The Mega Penny Project is a handy way to visualise large numbers.
Such a clever idea - people who've matched their screensavers to the background behind their computer so that it looks as though their computer screen is transparent.
I adored this short animation called Hiccups 101 by Jessica Sances.
Craig Robinson has done a series of what he calls 'lollipops' - abstracted computer drawings of musicians and pop stars. I was fascinated by how little I needed to identify some of them. I listen to a lot of music on my computer but I don't watch MTV particularly, so I was surprised at how often the names of musicians instantly popped into my head - even ones I'd never heard sing. Even when I couldn't remember the name, I'd often still know who it was meant to be - I guess most of us are steeped in celebrity culture whether we want to be or not.
It's not art related but this YouTube video of a small child trying to communicate something important to his increasingly giggly father makes me laugh hysterically every time I see it.
People
Regular commenter, Tina Mammoser from The Cycling Artist has a good post about avoiding scams which was inspired by this post by Alyson Stanfield.
Ulf Nawrot who did the post-it drawings that I linked to back in August, kindly sent the following clarification on his process:
All my post its were drawn while doing something else in an ad agency: phone calls, meetings, brainstormings-if you are looking close you will find lots of valuable information hidden on these notes like phone numbers, comments etc.-but you will also find my different states of mind, anger, distraction, making fun of people...the whole thing started subconscious like the swirls and ornaments a lot of people draw on desks and everything else in reach when they are doing phone calls.I have been collecting my post its since 1993 and at this point there must be around 25.000 of them.
25,000 of them - wow, way to go, Ulf!
Rag And Bone
I was delighted to discover the lovely Rag And Bone blog today. I've just spent several happy hours reading their entire archives. If you're interested in paper as an art medium, journalling, book artists or bookbinding, then you definitely need to check them out.
They're also a great example of a small craft business (they make delicious handmade journals and albums) using blogging to increase awareness of their business but without being constantly 'in your face' about it. Sure, they mention their own work now and again but mostly they link to other people and their passion and enthusiasm for paper and book arts really shines through in their generous and knowledgeable promotion of other artists in their field.
Print Gocco Exhibition Opportunity
If you're an artist working with Print Gocco, Bristol's Here Shop & Gallery has an opportunity for you.
We're looking to do a show in 2008 provisionally to be staged in March - June time for a period of 3/4 weeks with (hopefully) all works for sale to the public.
It'll be a group show with works from as many artists as possible on any theme you like, highlighting your own particular style and demonstrating the breadth of versatility and styles displayed by print gocco artists.
We're open to submissions from anyone anywhere.
If you can email us with links to examples of your work and a short blurb about you at heregallery@yahoo.co.uk then that'd be great!