Lucy's little curiosities

Sachiko Abe

2011-12-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

I discovered this work by googling something probably completely unrelated...but I am so glad I found it, even though it is a shame that I did not see this work in the flesh. Abe has been cutting paper for nine years, the paper cutting is a precise measurement that gets thinner through the artist's bouts of depression. Cut Paper was a performance that lasted ten weeks at the 2010 Liverpool Biennial. Her scissors were connected to a speaker, so every cut was emphasised and significant. I was instantly reminded of Rapunzel, possibly due to my constant retreat to familiar stories of childhood. Without being able to see it, I don't know whether I would have found this performance calming or chilling, it seems to be so close on the border.

I keep getting called back to Bermuda, 1949

2011-10-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

Lost

2011-10-10T04:10:00.001-07:00

2011-09-23T04:22:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been thinking more and more about the act of collecting things and how it is something I want to pursue more in my practice. After telling a few people about my tendency to keep dead wasps, moths and butterflies, I keep finding little envelopes of insect treasures turning up for me. Not just the insects I mentioned but flies and ladybirds, of different shapes and sizes. I never properly realised how beautiful the common fly actually is. What I love about these insects most is that once placed in a miniature worlds they become giants. And now I am starting to look around at other things to catch (well not catch as such, I don’t kill them they are found that way. I honestly could not kill a fly.) Let’s hope my house never becomes infested.

A Wendy House, A Shed and a Private View

2011-09-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

I need to spend some time taking some decent photographs of these but a few quick snaps will do for now. The wendy house and shed (I sort of see them as one whole piece) were displayed in a cabinet alongside miniatures from Greyscale and Cornfield. I also dusted off a piece I made at university (a polymer clay dead baby bird) and I was surprised to hear some positive feedback on it. It reminded me to look back at old work more often. The image of a dead baby bird was the first sad image I remember seeing as a child. The cruelty of nature and the sudden realisation of my own (and more significantly other’s) mortality. I still found it beautiful though.

Exhibition at The Deaf Cat cafe 22nd August-3rd September

2011-08-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

The miniature replica of my wendy house and some of my other work are currently being displayed at The Deaf Cat cafe in Rochester (kent). This is part of the West End Studios group exhibition. Photos to follow!

2011-08-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been working on creating a miniature replica of my wendy house (the image to the left is not like the one I had but is lovely nonetheless) and a shed which has the same dimensions. The wendy house called to me whilst I was sorting through old photos (alongside rediscovering trips to botany bay). The wendy house, a place of play, where children (typically girls) can play 'adult' and become owners of their own home. A beautiful plastic home where the sun always shines-no double-glazed windows or double locked doors. The shed, which commonly shares the same structure as a wendy house, is fundamentally a shelter for adult's tools to preserve their home and garden. A place where children usually are not permitted.

I wanted the wendy house to look idyllic and precious, and for the shed to look a little unnerving. At first I was thinking of playing around with lighting and shadows inside the shed, or hanging objects that have a haunting look to them. But then I ran out of time. So I had to resist that urge, and create a shed that you can't see into instead. The viewer is also not permitted to enter.

I wish I had been read this poem when I was a child (but I was still blessed by Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl)

2011-07-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Would you look at the number of stars out tonight,
I can't think when I've ever seen starlight so bright.
You can see why they say it's romantic, all right;
All those men with Flamenco guitars.
Can you find what your ancestors pictured up there?
Can you pick out the archer, the dog and the bear?
Do you know that the starlight is crowning your hair
with the wealth of the last of the Czars?

I don't know how much stargazing's ever been worth.
I don't know that the heavens acknowledge the Earth,
But it seems like a star did a dance at your birth.
Tell me, what do you make of the stars?

Do you dream of a day when a rocket appears,
And you scramble aboard and discover the gears
And the next thing you know you're a thousand light years
From this strange little planet of ours?

And you look out the window, and what do you see?
Is it anything like what you thought it would be?
They say, "traveling is broadening", don&Mac226;t you agree?
Tell me, what do you make of the stars?

If you go, I should warn you that somewhere in space
There's a great big black hole with a scowl on its face,
And it's eating the stars at a furious pace,
Just like you go through chocolate bars.

I don't want you to worry, but what would you say
If you woke up some otherwise wonderful day
And were told that a Black Hole was headed YOUR way
Tell me, what do you make of the stars?

When we're young we like anything fiery and bright
Like the Fourth of July or a Christmas tree light.
We strike big kitchen matches, although it's not right,
And stick glow-worms in mayonnaise jars.

But someday we'll grow older, as most people do,
We'll look up at the sky and the stars and they're no longer new.
So we'll have to ask somebody little, like you,
Tell me, what do you make of the stars?

Written by Tim Mayer

Wendy House In Pieces

2011-07-12T04:53:00.000-07:00

I'm in a little bit of a dilemma. My wendy house isn't really turning out how I would like (isn't that always the case?). The white plastic is picking up paint from past projects (perhaps I should be more particular about dust sheets), it's wonky (inevitable with my measuring skills) and the plastic has split in places. Hardly the pristine white bold plastic home I remember. But then perhaps it could be withered. After all, 'wither' by definition (according to dictionary.reference.com) is to lose the freshness of youth. I tend to favour creative accidents and like to challenge the notion of the perfect miniature. This time though I wanted it to be perfect.

Blissful Procrastination

2011-07-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

http://art.tfl.gov.uk/actsofkindness/

The Burning House

2011-06-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

I have borrowed this completely from a good friend's blog and her finding of this amazing website called The Burning House. The site asks people to list and photograph possessions that they they would rescue from their house if it was on fire. Some people have been completely unrealistic with what they could carry (and I fear I will be no exception). My first thoughts were restricted to the objects that are in my bedroom but then I started looking around a bit more. My house is absolutely full of things. 37 photo albums, about 100 prints on the walls, my dad's Giles cartoon books, the curtains that my grandma made and furniture she has upholstered. This is going to be tricky and I haven't even thought about clothes yet.

Providing everyone and my two cats are safe here is my list: (very much subject to new additions)

- My parent's wedding album (oh dammit...and her wedding shoes as well!)

- The album of my grandparent's time in Bermuda 1949

- The dictaphone that has the recordings of me interviewing my grandparents about their childhoods

- Blackbird earrings and bird pin

- Da's bird book

- Da's Bush radio

- The locket I always wear that belonged to my grandfather's aunt (who I am named after)

- Box of letters

- Parasol Ella got me from Thailand

Con-grey-gation

2011-06-24T03:22:00.000-07:00

So...on Sunday 19th June we took to Rochester High Street with our grey troops and celebrated the colour grey. There was a lot of pointing going on (I hope people weren't offended) at silver grey cars, people's accidental wearing of grey outfits ("why didn't I wear blue today??!"), grey buildings and concrete things. There was grey fabric wrapping, the looking of Rochester with grey tinted glasses and magnified grey picture frames, handing out of grey goody bags (mainly earl grey tea and a questionable silver cola sweet), a rail of our handmade everyday objects (washing machine, light switch, bush radio, fridge freezer and tv) a grey lollipop man, a giant eye and a bit of slightly ill timed (on my part) slow motion walking. I don't think I will be going into street theatre anytime soon but I think we pretty much achieved what we set out to do (mainly to spark a bit of interest and confusion in equal measure)

Afterwards we displayed our objects on the four clothes rails (many people browsed and took some away with them), the sugar cube houses and milk bottle villages made by local primary school children, costumes made by Rainham girl's and my miniatures to a backdrop of a video tape curtain and giant grey arms. As you do. My miniatures were of objects that you would expect to find in a broad spectrum of shops with an element of the surreal thrown in (such as a fridge already filled with grey rashers of bacon and a sorry looking fish, a grey typewriter and some grey wasps displayed in miniature frames.) The wind and inevitable rain affected our installation some what but then we perhaps shouldn't have hoped for a grey day.

Greyscale World

2011-06-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

Greyscale World

11am Performance starting at Oliver's (186 Rochester High St)

Art Installation (also outside Oliver's) 11am-4pm on Sunday 19th June

Painting the town grey

2011-05-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

On Sunday June 19th at 11am, Moogie Wonderland (and a grey crew) are going to take to Rochester High Street and rejoice the colour grey. It will be quite a surreal performance (or rather happening) that also celebrates the beauty of the mundane through a mass of every day objects and homage to everyday activities. Like shopping. All through the lens of varying symphonies of grey. A substantial part of the making process of our project will be achieved within an empty shop space (where we will also host factory-line style workshops), so it seemed like a natural progression for our happening to finish with an installation that has been influenced by the concept and image of shops. Unlike Zhen's supermarket and Hirst's Pharmacy our shop installation will not be like an exact replica of a particular shop. It probably will end up being somewhere between hardware/electrical retailer and a little jumble shop-full of trinkets and mixed matched stock. Referring to the wonderfulness of the process of manufacturing mass products but also the bespoke, 'one of a kind', object. Elements of shops that you recognise but is unlike a shop you have ever been in before. Slightly over sized 'husks' of objects alongside miniature replicas and casts (horrah, my comfort zone, how I welcome you!)

Zhen's supermarket though is special. He meticulously reconstructed a typical Chinese supermarket in a gallery down to the fluorescent lighting (the kind that hits you particularly badly when hungover), cash registers, refrigerators, packaging and the installation is even manned by staff. Each item stacked carefully on the shelves however are completely empty but still available for sale (no doubt more expensive than the 'real' product). Viewers (or are they customers?) can then buy and take away the produce. The transition between from being full to empty is an important one. It reflects the need to stock and replenish, the significance of consumer culture and mimics the ghostly nature of the empty jars. The element of an installation being dispersed into a crowd (and also the act of having staff) is something that was discussed to be an important part of Greyscale World from the start. But in fitting with Moogie Wonderland and Fuse ethos, it will be free. And everyone loves free things, right?

Xu Zhen ShanghART Supermarket, 2007

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

2011-05-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was young I have loved hearing proverbs and odd phrases, looking up their origin and probably using it in the completely wrong context. Stone the crows, many a slip twixt cup and lip (quite relevant with me-I am a spiller), the leopard doesn't change it's spots. A few years ago I bought a little notebook with the intention of writing one down every day. For some reason I got to fear makes the wolf bigger than he is and stopped. There is one phrase however that has particularly stuck in my mind and I don't think it has an origin as such. I heard the phrase shy bears get no sweets whilst attending an artist career talk a few years ago. It was stated that to be a successful artist you needed to be gregarious and able to 'sum up your work in six seconds' (just in case you were stuck in a lift with Charles Saatchi). Shyness, a trait that I view as almost admirable in others but a massive flaw in myself (I am working on that) makes this phrase very important to me. At the time I was also making toffee sculptures (of wasp nests and casts of shoes), so it all seemed very topical. I am hoping that a shy person can still be a successful artist and go for the whole sweet shop. Anyway, here are some images of artworks that will appeal to those with a sweet tooth. For someone who mainly works small, I am always intrigued by work that is on a much bigger scale. Thomas Rentmeister's use of store cupboard essentials (Nutella and sugar) on a great mass makes it become almost unappetising (although I am sure I still would eat it). And Nayland Blake's gingerbread house? I don't think it really needs an explanation. Fabulous.

Thomas Rentmeister Nutella

Thomas Rentmeister Untitled (sugar and shopping trolley)

Nayland Blake Feeder 2

Hidden in the city

2011-05-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went on a little trip to Margate, because Moogie Wonderland were asked to DJ at an Art Lands on Alien Landscape event at Limbo. It was a lovely and surreal experience, where people dressed as star trek characters danced to Moogie tunes. I wiggled, but without the entire (I missed out-silly shyness!). Obviously we couldn't visit Margate without getting sand in our shoes and visiting the Turner (beautiful- so glad it is there). Ellen Harvey was one of the exhibiting artists and I rediscovered her work, New York Beautification Project (sadly this wasn't the piece on display at the Turner, and I haven't encountered this work in New York itself, just in books). Around New York Harvey painstakingly painted forty miniature nostalgic landscapes alongside and over graffiti, without permission. These works were done in 2007 and quite possibly been painted over, which just adds completely to its sense of preciousness. This of course raises questions of whether graffiti can be classed as art and whether the act of creating graffiti destructs or enhances its urban landscape, but I don't particularly want to offer my thoughts on that. I just find it rather lovely.

In the cupboard

2011-04-25T16:08:00.000-07:00

Today I found my new most treasured possession. Discovered buried in my dad's bathroom cupboard. I wasn't snooping- it was an attempt to de-clutter (family of hoarders), resulting only in my bedroom being full of more trinkets. Anyway, the object is a photo album book belonging to my dad's parents (and notably the owners of the bungalow which I keep being drawn back to). The front of the album is dedicated to a holiday in Seville mainly consisting of vintage postcards, with the back documenting part of their time living in Bermuda (February 1949). Most were captioned by my granddad (da) mainly commenting on the greatness of my gran's legs. Underneath the album were two boxes full of photographs, all wonderful in their own way but for some reason didn't 'make the cut' of a photo album. I picked out my favourites. I don't know exactly why I loved them so much- although I liked how some provided proof that my dad wasn't in fact born middle aged as previously thought. In one of the boxes I also found images of my wendy house. I think that means I am on the right track.

I thought I saw your face today

2011-04-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

A while ago I went to see the Rosalind Nashashibi exhibition at the ICA (I love their bookshop almost as much as at The Serpentine). Today I was reminded of this and particularly her video "Eyeballing", through working on Grayscale World for Moogie Wonderland. A strong aspect of Grayscale World is to highlight the beauty of Rochester's overlooked grey spaces and the aesthetics of collecting and producing a mass of grey everyday objects. "Eyeballing" is a charming video where Nashashibi films everyday objects, buildings and spaces in New York that possess a pattern which make up a cartoon-like face. Toothbrushes and plug sockets become personified. The inanimate become animate. Everything else aside (and avoiding the obsession with the New York policemen completely), she is encouraging us all to look a little closer; and that is something that I admire.

2011-04-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

Triple Door, Elmgreen & Dragset

I am still very keen on retracing spaces, objects and rooms from my childhood- particularly those found in my granddad's bungalow. At first, I was just interested in replicating them. Perhaps creating a model set of each room from the bungalow, as I remembered it. My gran's tetley tea collectables, the windmill salt and pepper shakers, the button tin box, the pink frilled lamp shade, da's bird book where he had written my favourite sections inside the front cover (owls pg 137 and blackbirds pg 209) Obviously forgetting certain details along the way. But what interest is that to anyone else? And how does that differ from a dollhouse? Even if it was one that illustrated a home from the 1990s with the odd splashing of 1940s and 1950s memorabilia.

My childhood self saw the magic in the everyday and mundane objects (mainly furniture) that I encountered on a daily basis at home and a weekly basis on my visit to the bungalow. That is something I want to tap into: creating the imagined and the unfamiliar out of the familiar and the ordinary. 1990s Narnia. 1990s Wonderland. Melamine, vinyl, tile carpet, wooden sewing boxes. All portal to a different world or the entrance to a childhood den. That vision is something that I think everyone can relate to. My work I hope, is about attempting to capture and promote that feeling of child's play rather than projecting my childhood experiences. Apart from illustrating the trauma of being picked to play the Ugly Sister in Cinderella when I was 8, that is a story that needs to be shared.

Hideaway Furniture Type 2, 2004-5 Dunne & Raby/ Michael Anastassiades

2011-04-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

I found this in an a_n magazine and I had to share it. An impulse almost as strong as my urge to consume all of the hot cross buns that are in the bread bin at the moment.

A collective of artists under the name 'Wrights & Sites' have created 41 signs, entitled 'Everything You Need To Build a Town' which are placed across Weston-super-Mare. In familiar and unfamiliar spaces. Spaces associated with art and spaces that are not. Signs, often detailing things that we can not do such as 'do not walk on the grass' has become one of inspiration.

I copy and paste the rest (forgive me):

At the public library, you are instructed to

‘... SEEK OUT MASTER PLANS THAT NEVER MADE IT PAST THE DRAWING BOARD.’

At The Cliffs Tea Rooms, children will delight in being asked to...

‘PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD. CONSTRUCT ARCHITECTURES INSPIRED BY THE SEA’S APPETITE
FOR THE LAND.’

At the Cardiff Bay Barrage...

‘PERHAPS YOU CAN SEE WESTON-SUPER-MARE TEN MILES TO THE SOUTH-EAST. A CENTURY
AGO YOU COULD HAVE CAUGHT A WHITE FUNNEL FLEET STEAMER TO WESTON’S BIRNBECK
PIER TO VISIT THE THEATRE OF WONDERS, THE FLYING MACHINE OR THE BIOSCOPE. FORGET
PLANS FOR THE CARDIFF-WESTON BARRAGE. WALK ON WATER INSTEAD.’

All found at http://www.wondersofweston.org, how lovely.

Londres

2011-03-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went for a day of exhibitions in London and I felt truly spoilt by all the art beauties I discovered. First stop was the Food Glorious Food exhibition at the V&A's Museum of Childhood. Goodness, I love that place. I saw a 1960's milk float toy, miniature kitchens, vegetable fancy dress (I resisted the urge...just) and vintage food packaging. C.W.S Blancmange Powder, Tom Piper Stewed Steak, Surprise Quick-dried Garden Peas, Sutherland's Secret Cottage Pie Filling. I also had a gander at the rest of the collection and paused to do a very wonky drawing of a miniature version of a townhouse c. 1780. It was titled 'A Little House' and whilst I was drawing it I overheard a teacher say "I don't want any tittle tattle" to his group of pupils. I wish more people spoke in this way.

'Obit Series' Gabriel Orozco,

Next stop was the Gabriel Orozco exhibit at the Tate Modern. My favourite piece was his "Obit Series," a series of large scale prints of obituary headlines Orozco collected from the The New York Times. The name and age of the subject were not stated, instead you had about five words to sum up their life. Here are a few: Clock keeper, advocate of therapeutic bee sting, Inventor of Catastrophe Theory and lived in two worlds: white and black, both bitter.

'Sand on table' Gabriel Orozco

I finished with The British Art Show 7: In The Days of the Comet at The Hayward. There I witnessed Christian Marclay's "The Clock," and my, it was beautiful. The 24 hour long film (I arrived at 4.02 and left dead on 4.30) is essentially a series of excerpts from films which feature clocks, watches and characters that relate to a particular time of day. It was all synchronised with real time, with a narrative that had some relation from one film to the next. I am in awe of anyone who pays a great attention to detail. Patience. I think that is one of the many reasons why I am obsessed with anything miniature.

The Gift

2011-03-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

At our Moogie Wonderland's Sipping Sessions event last night at Rochester Coffee Co, we had a mix cd swap box. Bring along a mix cd, drop it in the cd swap box and take a cd at random when you leave. A lot of people contributed, which pleased us greatly. I haven't listened to the cd I picked yet. It doesn't have a track listing so I am very curious indeed to discover what sounds are on there. It's nice to receive something from a stranger. (Don't accept sweets from strangers kids.)

This notion got me thinking about the Random Acts of Kindess and along the way I also discovered Secret Agent L. The latter began with one lady leaving a single hydrangea flower in the windscreen of an unsuspecting stranger’s car. Other examples are: Leaving change in a vending machine or parking ticket machine, giving a generous tip, volunteering at a food shelter, leaving a gift in a department store, leaving an uplifting message, getting back in touch with an old friend and planting a tree in a communal space. Secret Agent L seem to specialise in leaving anonymous gifts and as time has gone on, their gifts have become a little grander than the single hydrangea flower. Call me old fashioned or perhaps a humbug, but I love the image of the single flower so much more.

A little while back I found a message in Rochester station. I think it's still there. The writer for some reason and for that moment in time (hopefully not any more) had become homeless. In the space that they wrote the message, they left a pen for the next homeless person so they could feel like they had someone to talk to. Reading that message gave me a very very very tiny insight into something that I am incredibly lucky enough not to understand.

Invisible Theatre

2011-02-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

I attended a workshop and an information sharing session today on the use of empty shops and it's potential as a creative community space. The high street for some time has been struggling to compete with big blockbuster-style chains and the 24hr realm of the internet and the contemporary supermarket. The high street therefore has to offer something different. A leisure space/place to contemplate and a space that draws people in that may not necessarily go and see art.

The notion of encountering art in everyday situations was discussed further by myself and a few people from the session. From dressing up telephone boxes to leaving shrines/object based installations in random locations. In these cases, the creators found that their 'work' was often moved, added to or perhaps even destroyed or taken. Examples of working in this way wasn't purely restricted to installation or the visual arts, there was a focus on performance and happenings as well- where members of the public become unexpected bystanders of art happenings that appear real. The 'freeze' stunt at the Grand Central Station in New York was mentioned (200 people froze on the same second for five minutes) and someone introduced me to the beautiful image of 'the couple that are arguing in the supermarket may in fact be actors'.

All of which are very topical to Moogie Wonderland and our current project "Greyscale World". I have now spent a good hour or so looking through all the videos on Improv Everywhere (a group in America that organise 'missions' with hundreds of undercover volunteers that play pranks on the unsuspecting public.) Examples are: identical twins mirroring the behaviour of their sibling on the subway, throwing a surprise birthday party for a stranger, shopping in slow motion and my favourite- a spontaneous musical in a grocery store (or perhaps I just have a thing about supermarkets.)

Painting The Town Grey

2011-02-22T04:47:00.000-08:00

I am going to be a bit busy until June (and I do like to be busy) so the miniature melamine wardrobe might have to remain in the closet for a little while yet.

Moogie Wonderland have just been awarded the SPARK arts commission for this years Fuse Festival:

Greyscale World: A wonderful grey mass of people and objects will present a monochromatic and other-worldly vision of the everyday. It will be a performance and installation that will take place in public spaces in and around Rochester High Street. Architects and residents will be invited to work alongside the artists.

Make a house a home

2011-01-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

Wayne Horse's "The Shack"

When I think about the image of a stylised house, I think of a cartoon-like structure, a lot like my old wendy house or the shed in my back garden. Pretty straight forward, no hidden annexe or turret (oh, what an even more fantastic wendy house would it have been if it had). The shed, although similar to the wendy house in shape, contrasts to it in function. Male orientated (usually), 'grown up' and not for playing. I want to construct miniatures of both.

Today I visited the Paradise Row gallery and discovered Wayne Horse's "The Shack." Viewers were invited to enter the darkened cabin-like structure with a lighter in hand, to shed a little light (no pun intended) on the drawings placed within (all to a little bit too creepy for my liking backing track). It seemed to merge the two aesthetics of the wendy house and the shed for me. Seeing this helped me remember Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller's "The House has books but no windows", an installation I saw at The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh. Although it had no windows, it certainly was a place for contemplation. It reminded me a little of a childhood den, although I was never that ambitious. I used imaginary bricks and the occasional bed sheet.

The thing is, my soon to be structures can't be entered. But then again, the beauty of the miniature is in its unattainability.

Cardiff & Miller, "The House has books but no windows"

2011-01-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today I went to one of my happy places. The V&A. Luckily I have no sense of direction so on trying to find the Modern technology room to rediscover the national portable typewriter circa. 1916, I stumbled upon room number 82. Stunning paintings. On my way to look at a painting more closely I discovered that one of the floor tiles was loose, what a lovely little hiding place that would be for something thimble sized.

I also spent some time looking at the enamel portrait miniatures. The dainty illustration of Captain John Whitby had a poem and a lock of hair in it (but hidden). In the text about the purpose of these objects were the words "(they) act as a memorial for its subject." This image and concept is something I keep returning to.

2011-01-25T15:46:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I love about dollhouses and model sets are that there are so many details in one tiny space. I am however hoping to extract objects/furniture (in miniature form of course) and place them in an empty space or in a different environment. (The objects can no longer be illustrated in their original setting because this place no longer exists.)

The two objects I have focused on from my photographs I sifted through yesterday, are my grandfather's rocking chair (now in our house and re-ulpstered) and my old (plastic and fantastic) wendy house. I decided to draw them first to force myself to study their structure, because I want to reproduce them as accurately as possible. Although the objects have personal significance to me, they are essentially everyday objects that people can recognise and perhaps they have connotations for other people too. The wendy house- like the playpen, is a typical icon of childhood (perhaps a Westernised idyllic one). It does however (again like the playpen) suggests confinement. A space within a space and a way to keep children protected (or trapped). The rocking chair projects a vision of a cosy home. Of course in this case the rocking chair fabric will be falling apart and the brightly coloured telephone in the wendy house will be off the hook. I was obviously inundated with important phone calls as a toddler.

I haven't forgotten about the white melamine wardrobe. It's going to be made from white sheet styrene. 1990s Narnia.

Room with a view

2011-01-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

My sister Chris with me in the pram in the bungalow

Today I have trying to find photographs of my grandparent's bungalow, with limited success (I guess you don't take that many photographs indoors). I have enjoyed the process though because I have found other details along the way of rooms, objects and furniture that I had forgotten about. And I have fallen completely in love with my old wendy house again.

The House That Made Me

2011-01-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking a little bit about what direction I want my work to go in (something about it being a new year I guess) and if there is going to be any set reoccurring theme or image in my practice. For some time I have been daydreaming about heading towards 3D illustration and stop motion animation. My work is often influenced by stories and so (hopefully) the move to creating something with a narrative will be a natural one.

As for a reoccurring theme or imagery, I am becoming more and more drawn to the aesthetics of the 'home'. I have been watching a programme on channel 4 called The House That Made Me (thank goodness for 4od), where a celebrity returns to their childhood home to find that the rooms have been recreated to how it once was, with great attention to detail. The two I have seen depict a living room and bedroom from the 1960s and 1970s, filled with beautiful eccentric wallpaper and curious objects (I now want to own a drinks cabinet that is concealed within an ancient globe). To the famous figure, this exercise allows them to travel back in time to their childhood, often bringing back painful or significant memories. To me as an onlooker (and of being essentially brought up in the 90s) the rooms give me a visual insight into a childhood life that didn't belong to me, and there is something that I find incredibly beautiful about that.

At present, I haven't become detached from my childhood home. It is still here and I see it daily. The wallpaper and decoration hasn't been changed since 1986, apart from a few exceptions such as when I managed to convince my dad to cover the apple white walls of the basement with purple paint (and I have still not been forgiven). The statue that my sister once knocked still in its same place with the head broken and the coffee table in the living room is still without glass from when I hit it with one of my toys-clumsiness makes a house a home I think. 'Lived in'. However if I was to return to my grandad's (da) bungalow with the rooms still exactly the same since I last saw them in 2002 that would be another matter entirely. So my next few pieces are going to be me exploring these rooms through my memory (and aided from photographs of course) and I am starting with the white melamine wardrobe.

Sugar Cube House at Laura and Lauren's Xmas Party (Dirty Dicks pub, Liverpool St)

2010-12-11T19:14:00.000-08:00

The sugar cube house was exhibited at Laura and Lauren's Arty Christmas Party alongside other art pieces, bands, performances and Moogie tunes. Although my last post was a little downbeat on my sugar house, it was a good starting point for what I want to create in the near future (...butchers?). Furthermore, I loved the atmosphere and the venue for the Arty Christmas Party, and my previous anxiety about lighting the sugar house in a dark (and slightly dingy but in a good way) pub seemed to work out for the better...the torch created an intimacy that reflected the nature of the miniature and the limitations of the small viewing points in the house. The beautiful Biancha models this well.

Things I want to experiment with next:

- Making a fridge with treats and LED lighting

- Being more experimental with the edible materials (there was a lack of chocolate)

- Being more precise with the packaging/ create work inside old packaging/tins

- Use a different style of house/structure

No sugar mice here

2010-12-10T10:38:00.000-08:00

I have finished my sugar cube house and at least I have one fan in my cat Felix. It turns out that it is rather tricky making different rooms and two floors only using wafer and sugar. I wanted to make a full top floor with a bedroom and wonderland style wardrobe (every sugar home should have one) but due to time, worries about it would collapse and the issue of lighting I was unable to do that. I am not particularly happy with what I have created (some of the objects in there are not edible- grape vine and beads, the wooden floorboards in the attic and the fimo butterflies) largely due to the unpredictable nature of the medium and that I ran at of time. But it has given me a few ideas for my next creation and an appetite to be a little bit more daring (I am thinking bigger, more rooms, more floors and LED lighting).

Sweet packaging

2010-12-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

I have decided to include paper packaging in my house, so not everything will be edible-but at least everything is either edible or alluding to things you can eat. I absolutely love packaging. Not great for the planet and I don't love new packaging, I get excited about vintage packaging. Possibly because I secretly want to be a 1950s housewife. I visited the museum of brands recently and I found the objects throughout the decades really inspiring- almost like they weren't real. Like Monopoly money or the Willy Wonka bar and golden ticket. On the kitchen shelves and cabinets in my sugar house I will have a strange mix of things together, not just cupboard essentials. A tin of boiled mutton for example! I like the pieces in my environments to not quite make sense or to be out of proportion, largely to differ from the notion of perfection associated with dollhouses and miniatures.

brrrrr

2010-12-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

I managed to convince my cat (who has refused to go outside since the first snowflake) to take a little trip to the garden to take some pictures using some of the furniture I have made for the sugar cube house. My inspiration quickly faded when I ceased to be able to use my hands (must invest in fingerless gloves) so I have only taken four very quick 'point and click' no fiddling shots, resulting in two pieces of slightly disintegrated wafer furniture and a rather annoyed cat that will probably swipe me later or sit on one of my favourite vintage dresses.

Sugar testing

2010-12-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

So I have been doing a bit of moving things around. It seems like I am not very good at planning...I must construct and then deconstruct, making the house more fragile by the day. I don't think I will become a property developer any time soon (despite my slight jealousy of Sarah Beany). Anyway, the kitchen has now become the biggest part of the downstairs floor, with a dining room at the front left and a toilet on the front right. It's obviously going to have walls and doors to separate the rooms (made from wafers and icing), which means that you have to look into all of the windows in the house to see the details/little scenes. The kitchen has a liquorice floor (a bit too zig zaggy for my liking) and it is going to have a work surface, cabinets, an arga and a wall hatch that goes through into the dining room (my gran & granddad used to have this in their dining room & I am going to be using a lot of imagery that I remember from their bungalow when I was little such as a 1950s Bush Radio made from rolled fondant icing). The kitchen is going to show the aftermath of someone making food (ie. Christmas feast). I am basing it on how messy I am in the kitchen (which is a lot especially if baking a cake) so there is going to be lots of spillages and empty wrappers...

I have been experimenting with making my own wallpaper out of wafer paper. I first tried food colouring which had a tendency to dissolve parts of the paper (which I sort of liked as I would like the house to look battered in places...which is pretty much a given anyway, intentional or not!)...but it dissolved it a little bit too much and it was a little bit too unpredictable. So I have done a half cheat. Using coloured pencils and pens on wafer paper to create wallpaper for the dining room and tiles for the kitchen and toilet. Still undecided as to whether to include miniature food packaging that I print and construct or try to make my own out of wafer paper/edible materials... I think the latter might be a case of biting off more than I can chew.

2010-11-29T02:19:00.000-08:00

So I have decided for now to forget about the butchers and just focus on making one sugar cube house that has four rooms over two floors (if doesn't collapse). This includes some wafer stairs, which I dyed with coffee- which I regretted immediately. I am hoping when I get back to it that this won't still be the case.

But now I am in a little bit of a dilemma. I created a little challenge to myself to make everything edible. However I also want to introduce wallpaper and miniature packaging. Tricky. It is difficult to use edible materials and create crisp lines and detail (icing sugar is good for sticking wafer to wafer but it also makes it slightly soggy)and I am already worried that there is a fine enough line between child's (or adult's) play and an art piece/object about my work anyway. My tutor at university always used to say to me to not get so carried away with the idea of making everything myself-you have got to think what is right for the piece. This time I think paper (and then everything else edible...)

I am not entirely sure what the message is. My other sugar cube houses have all leaned towards portraying the notion of a troubled home disguised by a sweetness/a pretense. Mixing imagery from Christmas tales with traditional notions of the 'home'. This home won't be fully homely. There is never any people. Perhaps it could mark the aftermath of Christmas (the half eaten turkey, opened crackers, crooked tree, presents unwrapped...) Imagery from Christmas tales? Toy soldier, the paper ballerina, tin heart, paper boat, toys ('The Steadfast Tin Soldier) The Elves and The Shoemaker... Perhaps I should think before I write.

Sweet

2010-11-23T14:58:00.000-08:00

I am working on my third sugar cube house, where my aim is to juxtapose imagery from Christmas tales with traditional ideas of the 'home'. But I am getting distracted...I want to make a miniature butchers shop made from sugar, called 'Sweet Meats'. I have wanted to make a butchers for a while as it has always been a very powerful image for me (ever since I screamed 'why are you murdering my friends?' when I was seven years old in a French supermarket and hastily turned vegetarian ). I really hope that apart from this outburst, I have never inflicted my vegetarianism on others and my desire to create a little butchers isn't an attack either. I am just a little bit morbidly fascinated with the visual image of meat (and taxidermy)- interested yet uncomfortable. I do intend to make the hanging carcasses (I can't think of a nicer word...) out of gelatine sweets, so perhaps there is a comment there. A little bit hypocritical perhaps, I can quite happily buy gelatine leaf for a minature universe (they form the windows in my sugar cube house)but I can't bring myself eat a cola bottle sweet. Something about the consumption.
So far my thoughts on the sugar cube house developments:
- must plan rather than construct, then take apart and construct again
- attempt to do a second floor along with a fireplace
- attempt to make everything edible
- wafers are my new balsa wood (stairs, kitchen units, doors...all wonky obviously)
- create a christmas food table made entirely from sugar
- is edible intricate wallpaper possible? Or should I forget about the greatness that is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- try to not make the house so 'cold'/empty (but still a little sinister, this is me after all)

Cornfield images

2010-11-23T14:07:00.001-08:00

Finally getting round to uploading images of the Cornfield installation that I made with Matthew Ashdown in June as part of FUSE Medway Festival, which was installed in the dance studio at Hundred of Hoo school. The walk-through installation consisted of 40 stand alone pieces of corn (made from fabric and latex in a paint tin each with individual labels hand crafted by local primary school children)and a cabinet of miniatures based on interviews we had with local famers.

Spark Fuse Commission June 2010

2010-01-20T00:53:00.000-08:00

Matt (Medway artist, curator, Moogie Wonderland co-founder, admirer of tea/baked goods and all things twee) and I have been awarded the SPARK arts commission as part of Medway's Fuse Festival happening in June 2010 (I am still twirling and beaming)

The aim of the project is to create an imaginative walkthrough installation of a cornfield growing around a studious space that combines surrealism with the everyday reality of farming life. This collaborative piece aims to put local agriculture into everyday thought. Local farmers will be invited to work alongside the artists.

You can view the process of The Cornfield Project here

Very excited about branching out of my miniature universe...

2010-01-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

2010-01-19T15:30:00.000-08:00

There is something stirring in the woods...

2010-01-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

'If you go down to the woods today' at The Arty Christmas Party at Dirty Dicks pub, December 2009

2010-01-06T07:52:00.003-08:00

Photography: Copyright: Lee Gentry, 2009
www.leegentryphotography.com

Lucy's Little Curiosity Shop at The Guerilla Art Market, Brighton

2009-12-15T03:23:00.000-08:00

http://theguerrillaartmarket.blogspot.com/

If you go into the woods today, new installation

2009-12-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

My new installation If you go into the woods today is being exhibited on 12th Dec (6-11pm) at The Dirty Dicks pub Liverpool Street, London.

If you go into the woods today is influenced heavily by the image of the enchanted forest in tales from my childhood where it was depicted as a place of facing fears, threat and at times refuge. The woods nevertheless is inviting both in its beauty and its promise of adventure. The miniature I feel reflects this feeling strongly through its power to draw people in, we have to look closely. If you go into the woods today was a way for me to face the absurdity of my own childhood fears (a long standing phobia of wasps and bees) whilst also revisiting the nature of child’s play (of collecting bugs in jam jars and making mud pies).

"The dark path of the fairytale forest lies in the shadows of our imagination" Terri Windling

Home Sweet Home: The Sugar Trap

2009-12-04T08:36:00.001-08:00

These images are of the inside of my second attempt at the sugar cube house, which I feel works better as photographs than an installation (even though you can't smell the sugar in a photograph). I am still not really sure what the narrative is in this piece. The jam could represent a bloody aftermath or could just quite simply be some spilt jam. The piece made from sugar cubes, white chocolate, fondant icing, icing sugar, jam and hundreds and thousands (as well of some sneaky dollhouse furniture and cardboard) although sweet made the house feel very cold and bare. It wasn't really a happy home and that surprised me. You see through the sweetness.

New installation

2009-11-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

My new installation of a miniature 'enchanted' forest (no wolf present but several mysterious creatures will be lurking about somewhere...)is being exhibited as part of the 'Arty Christmas Party' curated and organised by Laura Bridges and Lauren Willis. The event is at the Dirty Dicks pub opposite Liverpool Street station in London on 12th December 6pm-11pm.

Lucy's Little Curiosity Shop at The Guerrilla Art Market in Brighton

2009-11-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

Next art market:
December 12th-13th
11.30am-5.30pm
the Brighton Media Centre, 15-17 Middle St, BN1

http://theguerrillaartmarket.blogspot.com/

Best get on with my new range called 'Let me eat cake' based on Marie Antoinette.

One day soon I want to create this place...

2009-10-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

I wonder whether there is a place where all of your lost items go? Like the locket I lost in Edinburgh or a person you lose through the inevitability of death. Perhaps it is a giant lost property box made especially for you or a place to wander through when you are ready to find these things again.

I'm not sure what this place looks like, all I can see is trees. Trees covered with thread and white birds.

Lucy's Little Curiosity Shop at the 15 Minute Factory, Brick Lane

2009-10-22T06:13:00.000-07:00

The Absence of Cherry Ripe at The Tree House Gallery

2009-10-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

My installation The Absence of Cherry Ripe was exhibited in a temporary gallery space (which consisted of two tree houses) in September at Regent's Park, London. The space was ideal for the themes that are the foundation of my work; rediscovering the magic of childhood. My installation was then vandalised at night (the roofs were pulled off damaging the LED circuits and a couple of miniatures were removed), which I feel reflects another aspect in my work(sometimes hidden...you have to look closer)...the harshness of reality! It is such a shame that there are some people out there that want to damage a unique temporary space that challenges the usual gallery space whilst caring for the environment and the community. I always wanted to live in a tree house...

The Tree House Gallery

2009-10-22T05:45:00.001-07:00

Knitting

2009-08-21T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the next image of the bee series, she is knitting to keep warm for the winter! Roll on the tea party scene (I am making miniature nibbles of the cake variety)

Honey I'm home...

2009-08-13T06:20:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on a piece using a dead wasp and dead bee I found in my house (no insects were harmed in the making-I couldn't kill a fly). Over the last month I have decided to make work in my old dollhouse which I have striped out and painted white-a blank canvas for whatever scene I want to depict. In this series I want to set up a little home for the bee and the wasp in which they engage in everyday activities within the dollhouse thus absurdifying the dollhouse and the everyday. In thes house is a retro 'buzz' radio, a 'stinger' sewing machine, a bee listening to a Sting record and combing its hair with a honeycomb.

The Absence of Cherry Ripe series: Inside my birdhouse boxes

2009-08-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

I have been a bit slow with taking images of inside my LED operated birdhouse boxes that I exhibited in a sculpture trail in May. They are really difficult to get decent images of because they are meant to be viewed through the peephole...which isn't very camera friendly! Below are some of the images from the five birdhouse boxes (the sixth is in my grandparent's kitchen...)I am really pleased that children and adults that had seen my installation of the birdhouse boxes seem to come back and enjoy them when I presented two birdhouse boxes at my Brighton stall in mid July.

Peepaboo!

2009-08-06T06:18:00.000-07:00

2009-08-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

Find my jewellery...

2009-07-28T02:04:00.000-07:00

My inedible 'eat me, drink me' jewellery range is up for sale at The Red Door Gallery in Greenwich, London. The Red Door is a gorgeous boutique full of handmade wonders and treasures.
http://www.reddoorgallery.co.uk/

Images from stall at The Handmade House in Brighton

2009-07-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

Homemade bread, cakes, icecream, knitted slippers, jam, chutney, hats, antiques and Lucy's Little Curiosity Shop...

Images from Keston Lodge stall on 4th July

2009-07-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

My next stall on Sat 4th July at Kenston Lodge, Islington. Jewellery, cards, cakes, fun...

2009-06-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Lucy's Little Curiosity Shop is on Folksy

2009-06-22T00:52:00.001-07:00

Have a gander: http://www.folksy.com/shops/LucysLittleCuriosity

If you go down to the woods today...

2009-05-12T04:46:00.000-07:00

Over the four weekends in May I am exhibiting my series The absence of Cherry Ripe in a sculpture trail at The Handmade House as part of the Brighton Festival of Open Houses.

The Handmade House is idyllic (the garden has a little handmade swing and habits some very happy chickens) and I feel it is a perfect setting for my pieces which explore child-like innocence in nature.

My installation consists of six bird boxes each with its own LED lighting which the viewer operates by pressing the 'press me' button. Three boxes are bright and colourful (inspired by the painted houses in the Brighton town) and three are more hidden in the trial. Who says I am too old for 'hide and seek'?

The main inspiration behind The absence of Cherry Ripe has been the work of John Everett Millais and the idyllic image of the infant within nature. Within the frame of my birdhouse boxes, I depict the ‘innocent’ realm of the child through appropriating scenes from famous portraits of children between the 18^th and 19^th Centuries and the ‘corrupt’ society through the unseen image of the workhouse and poverty stricken streets. These contrasting realms house no children, only shoes and objects remain of their presence, questioning whether the ‘pure child’ ever existed.

Lucy's love affair with cakes and vintage items concludes...

2009-04-03T03:13:00.000-07:00

Horray! At last, Lucy has made some more jewellery inspired by baked goods and retro radios.

Expect to see (on my website):

Brogue shoe brooch
Retro alarm clock brooch
Bush radio necklace
Bakewell tarts rings and earrings
Life size party ring brooch (alas not edible)
Ice creams earrings and rings
Lollipops earrings and necklace
Cupcake earrings and brooches (bigger the better)
Tea pot and tea cups earrings and rings
Drink me necklace

Feature in Ogzine

2009-01-27T04:30:00.000-08:00

Hello! I have written an article about what fascinates me about miniature worlds for this new online magazine and blog which celebrates all things creative. More importantly, it raises money for two very amazing charities (Plan International and Kiva) and that in itself is very inspirational indeed!

To have a sneak peek go to oggleverything.com

Merci beaucoup!

2009-01-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

These images are from a photoshoot in Playground magazine. My jewellery were going back to their roots and visiting the dollhouse.

Jewellery New Year Resolutions...

2009-01-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

The name for my jewellery business has been decided! Welcome to Lucy's little curiosity shop.

So here is my jewellery related New Year's Resolutions:

* Make a range based on Nursery Rhymes (Georgie Porgie pudding and pie and the adventures of the three blind mice...)

* Make a Snow White range with poison (without the poison) hair combs and 'Grumpy' brooches.

* Introduce beads to my necklaces

* Make pretty but not wasteful packaging

* Produce charm bracelets that are awfully charming.