Trade with Ladylockslife Part 1

I use instagram a lot. I find it's a better forum for personal work (despite the copyright and 3rd party issues that arose earlier this year) But also I've found some absolutely amazing creative people to follow. Some really talented bastards. It's really inspirational. I follow quite a few curio/wuderkammer, Taxidermy and entomology instagram accounts. Usually a lot of curio jewellery designers who not only make wonderful jewels but really make the effort to tell their followers about the methods they used to make their jewellery and just general information about their topic of interest. I find that it's a completely different picture sharing site, things tend not to get lost like on tumblr. I haven't started using pinterest yet, but I'm sure I'll be all over that like a rash soon enough. Anyway, I follow a lady called Annie Loucks, of Ladylocks creations and heres her instagram account. She makes some really gorgeous jewellery so I proposed a trade. Here is part one. A little a5 graphite/micron and gold leaf illustration. I'm thinking about doing a bit of a fancy wax seal on it, but might just leave that for the envelope. Also a little preview of my ever expanding personal collection of pretties.

Taxidermy beginnings with Kirstin

I've had a love for Taxidermy ever since I was little, starting from those first few trips to the Natural History and Horniman museums and vague memories of flicking through the Walter Potter catalogue of anthropomorphised critters and Victorian Cabinets of wonder and curiosity. I went to a mouse Taxidermy class held by the Last Tuesday Society a year or two ago and it did not go well, I managed to completely destroy a poor mouse pelt and it was impossible to stuff after I'd clumsily torn holes in the skin. I decided to have another try with the intent of practicing more and eventually using Taxidermy as a medium in my art work through some sort of illustration-animal sculptural combination. The peeling was the relatively easy bit. Then I immersed the pelt in Borax salt to absorb any remaining moisture and then removed any excess fat. The stuffing wasn't so easy. I used cotton wool as it's easily malleable, wood wool was also an option but for such a small animal it seemed a bit pointless and cotton wool was easily accessible and just as good. I'm proud of my rat, I would have preferred to have found my specimen myself as this rat was bred for snake munchies, but it was a good starting point and I really enjoyed doing it despite my ethical concerns. It was an incredibly intimate experience and satisfying that the final result actually resembled a rat and not a bulbous mass of cotton, fur and whiskers. He is a little skinny and tubular and his face isn't quite right but for my first try I'm pretty happy with him. Kirstin was a brilliant teacher and really let me get involved with the animal inside and out without a step by step guide, it's an incredibly personal thing, I'm sure methods differ but I felt very comfortable doing it on my own and picking away at flesh and fat to then mould and shape it after gently prodding cotton wool and wire under the skin and getting to know the rats body. I'm getting my tool kit together slowly and have every intention of practicing. I plan to write my dissertation on Fashions of Taxidermy in art and clothing and why there seems to be a revival in interest for it. I think it makes all the difference when you have experience with it rather than appreciation from a far.

More arrows and DPS thoughts.

Here is another little one from the water colour moleskine. This time only using black posca pen and fineliners, with a touch of colour balancing in photoshop. Again with the arrows, girl. As this year at uni has ended and I'm about to embark on a year out for my Diploma in professional studies course, I need to start getting organised, getting a good portfolio together is crucial. I've never thought of myself as a designer, but with some words from my dps tutor, I need to start thinking about how my work translates onto objects and other surfaces other than just a piece of paper or digital file. I'd really like to start doing some larger scale pieces to help free myself up from the constraints of a sketch book. Maybe some more wall and window drawings. Or start thinking about products I can slap my illustrations on. There are so many things I want to experiment with and achieve in the next year, so I thought it best to write a list of things I can hopefully cross off throughout the course. Some things may be easily achievable, but others not so much and will need some serious time and work put in and some may not be achievable in a year but can be ongoing. 

So what the hell do I want to do? Here's a couple...

1. Work on branding. Make myself a logo and a website with domain name. 

2. Contact Illustration companies in london and Berlin and try an bag those amazing internships that will get me relevant and helpful experience. 

3. Get a separate portfolio together and Look for a Tattooing apprenticeship. 

4. Learn enough German (to not come across as an ignorant English douche) and go to Berlin and intern, but most importantly enjoy time away from London away, from home and away from my comfort zone and little bubble I've made for myself. 

5. Go to New york again on my own. 

6. Get a big body of work together, apply for funding and put on a few solo or collaborative exhibitions. 

7. Start my own or a collaborative online shop, with tshirts, prints and jewellery.

8. Learn Taxidermy to use in my work. I adore Taxidermy, traditional and Rogue and would love to try   combining it with my illustrative style. 

9. Create a zine, comic. 

10. Have some fucking fun and don't worry so much. Do amazing things. Make some great art. 

A nice selection of things to work my way towards during the next year. 

I am the arrow, these are the targets. Aim. 

Curiology Online logo design

The lovely Elspeth of SweetDelirium Jewellery decided to change her jewellery style a wee bit so with change came a new name 'Curiology Online' and new logo commission, I was very happy to do it ^_^ It'll be available on tshirts hopefully in the near future will update when they are for sale.  

In the meantime click here for the CURIOLOGY ETSY STORE

and click here for CURIOLOGY ONLINE FACEBOOK

Intravenous Clothing Logo Design

I really enjoyed doing this one. Have a bit of a hard on for the symmetry in the wings. Thanks to Lucy Hughes of Intravenous clothing for commissioning it. 

...And here it is in action at a pop up stall in bethnal green! 

Click here for INTRAVENOUS CLOTHING FACEBOOK