Jammy!

Few things in life remain the same forever, but one exception appears to be the iconic label of Tiptree jam. The design of this label must be one of the oldest on the supermarket shelves. It hasn't significantly changed in the last 125 years. Ironically, the plainess of the label now makes it stand out more. A few weeks ago, we made the pilgrimage to the factory which unsurprisingly is in Tiptree, Essex. ( I have to point out we were in the area anyway- we're not quite insane enough to make a special journey from Cornwall.) It was a shame that you couldn't go round the actual factory, but there was a museum which was (jam) packed with related artefacts . They also had a very informative film and of course, a tearoom . The jam, by the way, is mighty fine - it was my granny's favourite. As well as good old strawberry they have more obscure jams such as quince, medlar, and damson . They've also branched out into sauces. I've only tried the brown sauce so far, which is yummy! Anyway, I'd be interested to hear if anyone can recommend any other factory tours as I do like that sort of thing.

Here Comes The Bride...

Here's a picture of the royal wedding. Not the one just taken place, you understand. No, this is perhaps the oldest surviving piece of artwork done by myself. And I'm not even going to tell you which wedding its of, for fear of revealing myself to be a complete old fogey. All I am prepared to divulge is that I was 7 when I drew it. I can actually remember doing this and feeling like I'd spoilt it by not colouring in the union jack properly.

Signs of the Times

One of the benefits of living almost on the doorstep of an art college is that I can sneak into some of the events and talks that they have on. Last week I was quite excited to see that Bob and Roberta Smith was giving a talk. Bob and Roberta are, in fact, one person. I have been familiar with some of his/their work for a while as it sometimes would be visible in the environs of Hackney. I'm sure there used to be a bit of his work up near the junction of Hackney Road and Bethnal Green Road. Anyway,the work appeals to me as it doesn't take itself too seriously- it has a sense of humour and also because I just happen to like hand painted signs and typography. I hadn't realised that his work crosses boundaries into other areas such as performance, installation and music. The talk was entertaining and at times perhaps a little "random".It included elements of audience participation.For example,one student played the tune of three blind mice on a toy xylophone whilst the rest of the lecture theatre was divided into halves, pantomine style, for a sing-song on the theme of fruit and vegetables! Meanwhile a film featuring Bob going on a bike ride wearing a chain-mail outfit played on a screen in the background. All part of life's rich tapestry...

Strange and Beautiful

I've become a bit obsessed lately with the paintings of Jeremy Miranda. Who he? you may ask.
Well, I found his work when he was a featured seller on Etsy. The quality of the painting is incredible and I particularly like it when the paintings become narrative. The central theme to quite a lot of the work seems to deal with the relationship we humans have with nature and how we attempt to contain, tame and take ownership of it. He tends to work on series of paintings reworking them several times. The floating greenhouse is so strange and beautiful I can't stop staring at it. I have to warn you that visiting his shop may result in separation from your cash! The paintings are however very reasonably priced - so you can buy 4 like I did!

Soviet Matchbox labels

I have really posted this in response to Roddy and Ginger's blog post. These labels which I got on ebay bear an uncanny resemblance to the folk art pottery she has managed to locate at her local charity shop-lucky her!
These are without doubt soviet in origin since they all have USSR on them. I'm sure someone out there must know more... Some of them are really more than a little odd- in particular the multi-headed horses! I have quite a few more - so let me know if you'd like to see them!
I've just had a quick look on google and found out that they are called Dymkovo toys

Mapping it Out

I am trying to get to grips with all the features of Etsy, some of which I can't quite get my head around. I've had an Etsy shop for ages but have listed things only sporadically and they keep changing the features, so I can't keep up! One of the gadgets they have is the "treasury" where you curate other people's items into collections. Anyway, I've come up a collection of items on the theme of maps.Its called Mapping it Out . It was good fun doing this actually, so I'll probably be doing some more as and when.
Its kind of like pretending you're the editor of a fancy magazine.

Fab Fabric

Since the arrival of my sewing machine at Christmas, I have become a bit of a fabric junkie. I cannot stop buying the stuff and will quite happily spend hours trawling the internet for "finds".
Lord knows, we'll be drowning in cushions soon, if it continues. Anyway my latest fabric fix came in the form of these 1950s style fabrics . I even visited a real shop to get them when in London last weekend. I think they are actual 50s designs which have been re-released by John Lewis.