Zizzi Leeds The Light Photographs!!!

I went to Leeds last week to visit the fantastic new Zizzi Restaurant in The Light Center. It is epic!!!! I am delighted to have been apart of such a fantastic project. I urge anyone near Leeds to go check it out and tell everyone about the fantastic work Zizzi is doing with the fresh talent collective.

 You can check out some more of the Fresh Talent work for Zizzi at http://kitchen.zizzi.co.uk/

Zizzi Leeds The Light

I am very pleased to share my new work for Zizzi with you!! I am just one of their new recruits to the Fresh Talent Collective. I am so proud to be apart of such a talented bunch which includes amazing illustrators such as Lizzie Mary Cullen (www.lizziemarycullen.com) who came to meet us at New Designers One Year On last year to give us a pep talk! If you haven't encountered her work yet do check out her website, she is quite the amazing lady.



Off the peg guy hangin' out at the bar

So here's a little bit to explain my concepts behind my illustrations for the restaurant...

“I would spread the cloths under your feet:


But I, being poor, have only my dreams

I have spread my dreams under your feet

Thread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

William Butler Yeats

"The Cloths of Heaven," poem by W.B Yeats

So often in life, a creative steps out from the crowd and offers something new and exiting to the masses. When the industrial revolution unfolded, textiles manufacturing was at the forefront of the uprising in Leeds. It was then that broadcloth was dreamt, produced, sold and worn.


my illustration of dressmaker working on HANDMADE broadcloth dress

 A beautifully quintessential English prototype, the material was woven into the industrialised society, creating jobs, fuelling the development of crafts and offering an elegant material to suit the fashionable fillies of that time.

I can envision the hustle and bustle of the Corn Exchange and the city markets during this time, when the town’s cloth market was described as “a prodigy of its kind, unequalled in the world.”

But as we understand so well today, regardless of the innovation and hard graft that goes into a product, it can and will be produced cheaper by foreign our counterparts. And this is exactly what happened with broadcloth manufacturing in Leeds. No longer able to compete, the highly skilled work force were made redundant to create off the peg, mass produced fashion apparel instead, in a bid to somehow keep up with their competition.

This is the element I have chosen to illustrate in the restaurant. It happens too much in today’s society that skills which an area prides themselves upon, become diluted and often forgotten by our quick turn around society. Many people in Leeds may not even realise this heritage that created their wonderful city, and that is an awful shame. I am illustrating this in a quirky matter to draw attention to the subject, and to make people think twice about supporting what’s locally their own and helping it to succeed and thrive.






Leeds City Market


Leeds City Market is one piece of history which has survived the years of change and continues to flourish today. It is the largest undercover market in the county and houses around 800 traders. I felt it was very important to illustrate this fantastic Edwardian building and so it is featured prominently in my work for the restaurant.

For now you will have to make do with my drawings, I'm travelling over to Leeds next week to take some snaps of the completed work in all its threaded glory!!! I should have mentioned it was all stitched on leather panels, some of which have been mounted to chairs so it's going to be a very new way of presenting my illustrations. Can't wait to see it all!!! Hopefully some of you might get the chance to see it too if your in Leeds!

You can read more about Leeds The Light and about Zizzi's fantastic Fresh Talent collective here...

http://www.zizzi.co.uk/restaurants/leeds-2 

Mr X Stitch

I met Jamie, the dynamic stitching blogger at this years knitting and stitch show in London. Anyone that has an interest in unconventional stitching should definitely check out his blog, you are sure to find some nice treats! Here's a little piece he has added about my girls http://www.craftster.org/blog/?p=7890
Thanks for the mention Jamie!

Knitting & Stitch show RDS Dublin

Last week saw the arrival of the knitting and stitch show to the RDS, Dublin. I was really excited for this show as it was my first in Ireland. In all, it was much quieter than London, however this wasn't so bad as I got to catch up on some reading!(If you haven't read the Kite Runner yet you should, it's amazing.) Anyway, I had some great feedback which was good and have had some comissions to stitch pictures of a few grand children so I'm looking forward to that. Also got to meet up with some more lovely graduates from Galway that were exhibing there which was nice. The biggest surprise of the week was the arrival of Ms Suzi Park who I could not believe was standing before me (Suzi was my stitch teacher in Wales and traveled all the way over for a quick hello, she is a bloomin' amazing lady!!!) Anyway, I will leave you enjoy some pictures of my work, and the other other lovely ladies I was exhibiting with.

Here are the Lovely Emma Doyle and Jacqueline O'Neil

..and the equally lovely Vivienne, Kate, Kirsty and Abegail

This amazing work belongs to Miss Orla O'Brien. I fell in love with her stuff at New Designers and again when I participated in the Mint Escapes exhibition with her earlier on this year. She makes adorable dolls and stitches pictures of them too. This was the first time we met and she is absolutely lovely. We are now talking about having an exhibition together..and then take over the world perhaps?!

and that would be me. Thanks you and good night X

Knitting and stitch show 2009

So I am just home from the madness that was the knitting and stitch show in Alexandra's Palace London. Firstly, Alexandra's palace..is actually, a palace!!! Amazing building! Secondly, my God!!! The ammount of people that attended the show over the four days was just colossal. It was great to talk to such a variety of people, from the very young to the very old! Got some really interesting ideas and great feedback from everyone so it was a very positive experience altogether! The show stops off in the RDS Dublin next, I would advise anyone and everyone to go, it's definately worth a look.

Anyway, here are some of my new stitched girls...

and here are some of the seriously cool faces in the crowd!...

x

Mint Escapes 2009

Is anyone around London next week? If so come see me and some other lovely people at the Mint Escapes show in conjunction with London Design Festival.

There's some great stuff on show, check it out on their blog http://mintshop.wordpress.com/

I will have five images on show, each one representing one of the Little Women from Louisa May Alcott's infamous tale.

New Designers 2009

The class of 2009 at New Designers, London. 2009

So I'm back and have finaly recovered from a hectic 2 weeks in London (including New Designers). The show went really well. The graduate work was unbelievable- everyone was so different and equally amazing, it was both ispiring and terrifying!!! The were lots of people around also and it was great to hear such good feedback from the public, students and people workinf in the industry. I sold some work and have had some offers for other exhibitons. I was also selected, amoungst 26 other graduates from New Designers, to show our work at the Kintting and Stitch show in October which will be on in London and Dublin, very excited about that.

We had a really big stand this year which was great Because we got to hang so much of our original work...

and here's my work on display...