The Creative Identity

Thank You January

Today I ran some errands late in the afternoon and, frankly, I did not know what to think. Is this more like November? April? What exactly? The news tell me that this is the wettest January since the beginning of all Januarys and I can well believe it, for I don't remember one coming even close to this constant drudgery of spitting/bucketing/lashing down that afflicted London almost every day of this month. And to the uninitiated perhaps London always looks rainy but, believe me, it is not. It surely experiences nothing compared to Manchester. So, there I was, walking down the street struggling to keep the brollie within the proximity of the head and then realising that I was wearing a hooded coat and I am sure this will help. Yeah, right. Then I was fighting the wind, the rain, the brollie and the hood puffing up like the cheeks of the big bad wolf. Eventually, eventually, I made it to my destination and eventually, eventually, I was able to stop for a hot choco on Kensington High Street. If you haven't tried London in inclement weather, you're probably no closer even to imagine what running a marathon every day of your life entails. It was well past 6 pm and the place was dead, which isn't the usual Kensington scene. But the upshot was a wonderfully private gander at the local Waterstone's in which I picked up the Listography 2014 diary. Who cares that we are a month in,... Read more →

Intermission

Finally, finally, finally it's here! An online course by Danny Gregory and some of his fab artist peers. See you there. Read more →

Two Artists

When I used to put together The Creative Times, I enjoyed looking for news and talent enormously. Now that I do not any longer, at least for the foreseable future, I have realised that I have missed the opportunity to tell you about two of my favourite creative girls. Memi The Rainbow, also known as an Italian in Paris, is the blog of an extraordinarily creative girl who is extremely handy with stamps and inkpads. Do you, like me perhaps, have a collection of stamps which you can never quite tell what to do with? Well, Memi is better than that; not only does she always know where to use her stamps to wonderful effect, be this on paper, objects or fabric, but she actually devises her own. Her blog is all about the creation of rubber stamps, which she designs and then hand-carves, and she also provides truly interesting snippets of information on Paris. She has an Etsy shop and is extraordinarily prolific. Over the years she has produced wonderful seasonal collections and has modified her output according to some brilliant life events, notably having acquired Fifi, an adorable little dog, and having become the mum of Gemma only a handful of months back. You can read an interview with her on Etsy too. I've been following her work for many years and I am always surprised and delighted by her creations. She is a wonderful artist. By contrast, someone I've only recently started to follow is a wonderful... Read more →

Book Play

Today I went to Tate Britain for the first time since 1997. How this came to pass, I truly do not know. There are museums and galleries here in London in which I always find myself, week in, week out (The National Gallery being possibly the most blatant example), and others upon which I touch and go once in a blue moon. Tate Britain, as it is known these days, for then it was merely The Tate Gallery, houses the Turner collection in the Clore Gallery and it is always worth visiting if only to plunge oneself into British Romanticism at its very best (some of William Blake's works are also here, visit the upper floor). But I am not snuggled here in bed to tell you about the obvious, I am here to write a bit about books that are playful, or books you can play with. The bookshop at Tate Britain, like the one at The National Gallery or at The Saatchi Gallery, has an excellent selection of books for children. Today, very many caught my eye, from wonderful picture books, to books for doodling, colouring, sticking, cutting, piecing, you name it. They also stock the sublime Paper Play, which was one of my Christmas presents. You can fold, tear, stick, colour, glue, and even construct things with the pages of Paper Play. I find it therapeutic even to leaf through it, as I did on Christmas morning, imagining what to do with it, whether by following the... Read more →

Intermission

What took Lego so long? Finally, a Simpsons set is on its way. Watch this wonderful video in which the Lego artists explain how it came to be. Read more →