Redesigned Website

Earlier this month I redesigned and updated my website. I have now created a fashion illustration page, which I never got round to doing in the past. Above are screen shots of the new site, in comparison to the old site I am really pleased with the outcome. My website includes a shop, this blog, and a portfolio of my textile and illustration artwork.

My Current Display - Harvey Nichols Bristol

My current display is in the Bristol branch of Harvey Nichols. It is a instore display situated by the escalators, and also the accesories department. It started in July 2010 running through to December 2010, so pop in if you live in the south west area. Only the womens fabric dolls are on show in this store.

Friday Late V & A - Catching Shadows

As part of my job, I was lucky enough to work on the last Friday Late Night, Catching Shadows. In celebration of the exhibition Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography, an evening of performances and installations, talks and film screenings. Explore the amazing processes involved in this art, from its inception in the 19th Century to the present day. All will be revealed as we uncover the science behind camera-less photography!

For the event I helped with the set up, of the anonymous collaborative artists, Luzinterruptus. Their work was a lighting installation positioned in the John Madejski gardens. I am the middle figure in the last photograph. The day consisted mostly of being in two black gazebos, in the south right corner of the garden. Stuffing the dolls with plastics, dressing the dolls in black garments. Also sewing lights to the dolls, in specfic positions.

Their description of their work: 'For the occasion we created an installation of human shadows, using 100 inflatable dolls, contemporary plastic sculptures. The figures were dressed in black and shut inside gigantic white garbage bags, to which we added strategically placed points of light to achieve the effect of authentically trapped shadows. The original idea was to have them standing so that they seemed to be living beings in distinct postures, but the tremendous night wind, decided for us and ended up giving an unexpected aspect to the installation, which was finally converted into a dramatic cemetery of shadows waiting to be buried.'

It was a pleasure to work with the artists, and I wish them all the best with their future projects.

4D Ralph Lauren display

It is such a shame last night I missed a display on New Bond Street. I was in soho just round the corner, but I only heard about it afterwards, that there was a special display on. A 4D show on the front of the Ralph Lauren store. The way it was 4D as there was the brand's perfume being sprayed into the air. Also the trademark polo horse appearing to come crashing though the front of the store.

The display was only for one minute but it sounded impressive. It was at 9pm last night, to launch the new digital store, this lighting display was also on show in the New York store. The idea behind the concept was imagined by the London marketing team of Ralph Lauren.

Wishlist of books

I have quite a few books I currently would like to own. On my wishlist are:

- Fashion Designers Sketchbooks by Hywel Davies

- Hair'em Scare'em by Robert Klanten

- Spectres: When Fashion Turns Back by Judith Clark

- The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making by Jane Brocket

Fashion Designers' Sketchbooks explores many major names working in the fashion industry today. Photographs, sketches, mood boards, line-ups, toiles, fabric swatches and more all contribute to the creation of ideas for fashion designs, and here they are brought together for the first time to show how the final work is conceived and developed. Juxtaposing the garments on the catwalk and in lookbooks with the original research material and with finished illustrations allows for a new perspective on the working methods of leading international designers and on the role of different media in the creation of their work, making the book a fascinating resource for both students and designers.

Numerous leading designers, including John Galliano, Dries Van Noten, Antonio Marras for Kenzo, Yohji Yamamoto and Vivienne Westwood, are interviewed alongside their sketchbooks, discussing the roles they play in evolution of their work, and how they inform and encourage their creative processes. The result is in an inspirational overview of cutting-edge design today. Hywel Davies is a freelance fashion writer based in London. After studying Fashion Communication and Promotionat Central Saint Martins, Hywel worked for an international mix of magazines and newspapers. Previously the fashion editor at Sleazenation, he has also written for Arena, Vogue, ELLE, Wallpaper, Nylon and Dazed & Confused

Hair'em Scare'em presents an extraordinary exploration through the fascinating beauty and inventive possibilities of hair as a medium for artistic expression in contemporary art and design. The book documents this palpable trend into a visual sourcebook that presents a captivating collection of hairy works in graphic design, photography, illustration and art as well as interior design, fashion and jewelry design. The extraordinary works featured in this book are the best indication of trends in hair outside the mainstream.

In Spectres Judith Clark addresses the relationship of contemporary fashion to history, creating a collage of visual references which offer a fascinating insight into the origins of themes current among contemporary designers, such as alienation, trauma, and phantasmagoria. Images from cutting-edge designers such as Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan, Viktor and Rolf and celebrated make-up artist Pat McGrath are juxtaposed with details of historical dress from the permanent collections of both the V&A and MoMu, combining to produce a book that is both ground-breaking and stylish. The book includes a coda by fashion historian Caroline Evans (author Fashion at the Edge) from whom Clark has drawn assumptions about contemporary dress. Also reproduced are dramatic designs commissioned by Clark for a giant shadow lantern from the celebrated New York fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo.

"The Gentle Art of Quilt-Making" is a charming, inspirational and practical guide for would-be quilters. Leading author Jane Brocket presents over 15 quilt designs and weaves a narrative around each one. Each quilt story considers the sources of inspiration - including quilters, quilt styles, quilting communities, colours, patterns, films, places and painters. There's a Russian Shawl Quilt, inspired by Russian shawls, traditional motifs of Russian folk art constructed with ever-smaller nesting squares in blacks, golds, pinks, reds and emerald greens, a Floral Frocks Quilt inspired by summer dresses, flower gardens and herbaceous borders - exuberant colours and big florals pieced together in strips, and a Suits and Ties Quilt reusing sober woollen suiting contrasting with extravagant silk ties with geometric squares inspired by Gee's Bend work-wear quilts. Finally, a practical section covers all the practical knowledge you'll need - from hand-quilting and sandwiching to binding, storage and caring for your quilt. Confidently armed with all the design tools you need, you can embark on your own quilting journey and begin creating your own personal quilting masterpiece.