VALENTINES DAY STUFF

I've created some Valentines Day products which are now for sale through my Big Cartel and Etsy shops...

 

 

 

HOW NOT TO NETWORK

I'm currently back in London after a flying visit home to the Midlands on Sunday/Monday, to see one of my best friends who's been in hospital (she's fine by the way!) but it was lovely to see her. I came back yesterday to attend a 'Personal Branding: How to build a successful online presence in the arts' talk from elle (emerging legacy leaders east) - held at Stour Space in Hackney Wick.

They had four speakers there; Vicki Fong, a digital fashion lecturer from UEL, Regine Debatty, a blogger/curator at we-make-money-not-art.com, Lorena Munoz-Alonso, an art critic/journalist from selfselector.co.uk and Matthew Caines, the Editor of the Guardian Culture Professional Network. They only had about ten minutes each to talk, but all gave their insight into current social media platforms, how they have evolved and how they have assisted them in their careers.

To be honest, I thought the event might be slightly more geared towards artists, but was mainly all about writing for the arts and pitching, which wasn't really that useful for me. But it was good to hear the advice, especially from the Guardian Editor about how to check your facebook and twitter insights to see which posts are gaining more popularity, and researching the best times to send out updates.

At the end there was a 'networking' session but I'm always crap at those sort of things! Is it just me?? But everyone else seems to know each other already and are all chatting away. I feel a bit of a fool just approaching someone. Plus it seemed they were all writers, so I scuttled off early into the night...

SLOWDIVE

A poster I created using my recent botanical illustrations. This show was amazing!

I'm thinking of printing a limited run of these, any Slowdive fans out there...?

NOCTIS MAGAZINE

NSFW!

Editorial illustrations in Noctis Magazine issue XIII, for an article about threesomes.

THE INSTITUTE OF SEXOLOGY EXHIBITION

Yesterday I went to the Wellcome Collection's The Institute of Sexology exhibition; a collection of objects, art, film and photography relating to human sexuality. It was a bit of a random choice of exhibition for me but it was very unusual and interesting!

I particularly liked the strangely named condoms they had on display...! It also had information and photos from the William Masters & Virginia Johnson Human Sexual Response study, which the TV show Masters of Sex is based on.

I worked in their cafe for a while and then headed to Bloomsbury Coffee House nearby for a chilli chai latte, which is a lovely basement cafe on Tavistock Place.

Images from Wellcome Collection

NEON

Lights of Soho presents God's Own Junkyard

NEWBIES

A couple of new things I have for the new year; lovely black sheer mesh top from my beautiful friend and Miwo cat shoulder bag!

TY

I now have 150 followers via Bloglovin' - thanks so much for reading my ramblings...

Follow my blog here

THE RADICAL NUDE

On Friday I went to see Egon Schiele: The Radical Nude at the Coultard Gallery (inside Somerset House) We're both huge fans of his work so were really excited to see it; I haven't heard of another solo Schiele show being around, at least not in London anyway. 

I hadn't been to the Coultard Gallery before, it has two large joining rooms for the show and had a great selection of Schiele's work from his early days up until his death at only twenty-eight. If you don't know of his work, he was an expressionist artist living and working in Vienna. He focused on the nude figure, creating many drawings and paintings of himself,  his friends, lovers and sister. For me as an illustrator, I love his use of bold, confident line and the contorted angles and shapes which he makes with the figures.

It's hard to believe that some of the works are so early, I think they look so contemporary and have a clean, graphic quality which remind me a little of Jamie Hewlett or David Hughes.

There's a good review of the exhibition here.

SORT YOUR HEAD OUT

As it's the start of a new year I'm trying out a few apps and websites to help with sleep, exercise, scheduling, planning and de-cluttering.

Sleep Cycle 

I got into this as both my housemates were using it, it works by tracking the hours of sleep you get in a night and measuring it's quality as a percentage. After ten days of use it creates a graph so you can compare each night to the next. It also has a smart alarm which aims to wake you up during your lightest sleep, therefore making getting up seem easier! I always thought I was quite a deep sleeper but apparently not... I think with Christmas my sleep hasn't been great anyway so I'm aiming to go to bed earlier and try to get more zzz's. (around 99p for iphone/android)

Buffer

I started using this a few days ago and I've already seen an increase in likes and clicks, simply because I'm posting more. It basically lets you schedule posts at any time you like, so you don't have to do them there and then. There's a plugin for your internet browser too, so if you see something you'd like to share you can schedule it right away. I've only got the free version at the moment so I'm not sure what the upgrade gives you, but I find it fine as it is for me. 

Headspace

I only completed the first session this morning, but it was really easy and great way to start the day with a clear head. Each course runs over ten days, the first was a ten minute meditation/mind training exercise which just got you to relax and focus on your breathing. I'm going to complete the rest of this course and see if it makes a difference. The interface is also really lovely with cute graphics and easy to navigate options.

Into Mind

This is a minimalism/style blog which apart from looking lovely, has amazing tips and charts to help you to start leading a more minimalist life and live more simply. I, like probably many other people just assume that minimalism means getting rid of your stuff and having a bare room/house with only a few possessions. Also this does have a lot of advice about de-cluttering, it's also about cutting down on other non-tangible things like information overload, too many commitments and negative thoughts. 

I've already started to cut down on my facebook use and unfriend/unfollow people who are no longer present in my life. It sounds quite harsh, but it makes sense that if you have all these meaningless updates and clutter, your mind will be affected. Next I'm going to try the minimalist wardrobe tips...

I'd love to hear of any other recommendations!

CURRENT READING LIST

The Thrifty Firecracker

Xen's Imagination

The Pineneedle Collective

Pages by Megan

Salt and Chic

d is for dangerous

It's Cohen

TWOTHOUSANDFIFTEEN

My 2015 goals (rather than resolutions) Things I'm going to try and achieve, or at least get closer to.

Start some form of exercise

I'm going to start with the Couch to 5k exercises from the NHS and see if I can at least make it round the park without throwing up.

Record

Take more photos, videos, write things down... I'm going to aim to take a roll of film a month or something like that and have some tangible photos I can stick on the fridge and shit. I've also started Project 365.

Progress in career

Just keep drawing, keep getting commissions, keep enjoying it. I really want to have done a lot more amazing work for my portfolio in a year's time.

Travel

I didn't travel as much as I'd have liked in 2014. I've got mates living in Sweden and Iceland so planning to visit them hopefully in the Spring, and possibly go on a weekend to Amsterdam.

Do more

Cooking, reading, writing, watching films, going to exhibitions, seeing bands.

Take more in, digest.

Explore London

I've lived in London for a year and a bit now and still feel like I've seen hardly any of it. I'm going to make a concious effort to visit more and just explore all the districts in general. I currently have a paper map of London stuck to my bedroom wall and when I've been somewhere I mark it on there to remind me of it (worringly Memento-esque)

Take a drum lesson

I feel a bit silly wanting to play the drums at my age but my boyfriend assures me anyone can learn and to go for it... so I think I might!

Learn French. Or slightly progress, at least

I took French at school and did awfully, but now I'd really like to be able to learn the basics and order a beer in Paris so I'm going to re-visit Duolingo and see if I can stick to it this time.

I'd love to hear about your 2015 goals!