It’s great when you learn a new skill or craft; I’ve learnt two in the last couple of weeks by taking part in the craft workshops I’m holding at the gallery. I can now wire wrap and can make myself silver plated jewellery (or sterling silver if I’ve got the cash to splash) I have also learnt how to make ‘Suffolk puff’  fabric accessories based on a centuries old technique used for making quilts. Check the front page for some of the photos! :)

Both workshops were really enjoyable and that may come into play when I’m planning my Christmas presents this year (Lots of handmade stuff!). But... before we get anywhere near Christmas we’ve got Halloween... Some of the traders at Wood Street Market are celebrating Halloween this year by dressing up and decorating their shops. There will also be face painting, a spooky nail bar (ghoulish green nail varnish for your Halloween parties!) an unlucky dip for those brave enough to put their hand in as well as a charity raffle for Children in Need. Coincidently The White Lighthouse will also be holding jewellery making workshop with Ellen Jones on the same day, so book your place through our online shop . .

Hidden Gems...

If you’re planning to scare yourself silly over the coming week then I would recommend doing it at The Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square.  The PCC have a season of Horror double bills as well as a selection of classics and scary silent movies. For those that have never been to The PCC you are missing out on a hidden gem in the centre of town; an intimate 2 screen repertory cinema famous for its Sing-a-long-a Rocky Horror Show & Sound of Music evenings, shows a fantastic eclectic mix of films; forget Hollywood blockbusters The PCC are daring with their movie choices, and we love them for it – anywhere that decides to have The Good Bad Movie Club or the Ghostbusters Quote Along has to make it onto my ‘one not to miss’ list! Upcoming highlights are Nosferatu, the Halloween & Exorcist double bill as well as cheesy 80’s movies Monster Squad and events such as the Labyrinth Masquerade Ball should make for a different night out. More modern movies that are on my list of ones to watch include the Norwegian Film Troll Hunter – a sort of Blair Witch but with scary giant trolls, and Pedro Almodovars latest movie The Skin I Live In. Modern or classic, silent or speaking, English, Spanish or Norwegian, colour or black and white, serious or cheesy, there’s something for everyone at the PCC so check it out soon!

http://www.princecharlescinema.com/index.php  

I’ve been a bit silent on the blog for a few weeks; it’s been a busy time with the E17 Art Trail, the Wanstead Art Trail and preparing for the launch party last week which was a great fun day with lots of great art and craft, music, drinks and lots of balloons!  Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the gallery and we hope to see you back there soon...speaking of which we have just finalised our first lot of craft workshops for October, starting this Saturday 15^th Oct, from 2-4.30pm with a jewellery making workshop with Ellen Jones, the following week we will have Lindsay Cole teaching how to create Suffolk Puff fabric jewellery and accessories. Workshops are £20 each and include all materials and refreshments. For more information or to book check out our website or pop in to the gallery, booking is available via our online shop!

Don’t miss the beautiful people...

Glamour of the gods: Hollywood Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. An enchanting flashback to a bygone era, the days of the Hollywood studio photographer. John Kobal took it upon himself to save and collate the images taken during filming, saving an iconic segment of Hollywood imagery. This exhibition is engaging, and beautiful to see, old fashioned Hollywood glamour is a refreshing change to the deluge of digital retouching that we see every day. The stars of the time exude a kind of unreachable beauty, and vitality but at the same there is that underlying hint of sadness when looking at the images as many of the stars are old now or have long since died, some of them at tragically young ages; “Whether or not the subject is already dead, every photograph is this catastrophe.” (Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida) Moving away from this slightly morbid but inevitable aspect; just for pure viewing pleasure this exhibition is a must see! Many of these early studio images were taken using simple lighting, hair and makeup techniques, use of props, material and textures give a certain feel to the image. Marlene Dietrich’s face and smooth complexion becomes a continuation of the fabrics and textures surrounding her, simply flowing from one to the other. Stunning. Make sure you visit before it closes on the 23^rd October and lose yourself amongst the beautiful people.


National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits, on till Sunday 23^rd October.
Open daily 10.00 – 18.00, Thursdays & Fridays till 21.00
Tickets £6 (concessionary discounts available)

I’m a person who likes to write lists and tick them off, a planner, a thinker, in some ways a procrastinator; I work things out, map the scenarios and ensure all bases are covered. But at some point planning gets boring and you want to get your hands dirty. I spent yesterday gutting the space for my new gallery with some help from my lovely family and by the end of the day I had a blank canvas to work on, along with a big stack of shelving boards and a bin bag of mangy carpet.

Not content with having spent the day doing that I then went home and spent the evening in my under stairs darkroom, getting a bad back by hunching over but creating a hairdressing masterpiece for the Wanstead Art Trail in September (I am exhibiting in Biyoni hairdressers so thought I would mould my piece around it) so a very productive day indeed.

Not all days are quite so productive, when setting up your own business you feel a bit out on a limb, not quite sure if you’re making the right decision and wanting to run back to the first safe office job you can find just to make sure your home isn’t repossessed, but persevere and the rewards will follow..even it’s just improving your fitness levels by spending the day painting!

The gallery WILL be up and running by the time the E17 Art Trail starts on the 2^nd September...it has to be as we are taking part! (No. 100 on the trail map) I’m looking forward to it, everyone has been very supportive and positive about the gallery so hopefully we can repay that support with a great space and some fantastic work..and with that, back to the darkroom I go!

Going going gone...Don’t miss out!

Thomas Struth at the Whitechapel Gallery on until September, get 2 for 1 tickets with timeout online. Ok so this was number one in Timeout magazine last week, so you probably already know about it, but if not it is worth going to see. Thomas Struth sits within the group of photographers who have been a huge influence, not only on me but modern photography in general; a democratic documentary style depicting the impact of humans on the space around them, within architecture, urban space, technology, capitalism and commercialism, as well as documenting the inhabitants that make it all happen.

Thomas Struth makes an impact; huge prints of colossal buildings, galleries and museums, religious buildings, and more recently the Cape Canaveral space station. As well as these he has produced large scale photographs of jungle scenes, tangled images of tree and plants intertwined with no real focus point, they are comparable to the tangled mass of wires and electrical components that are on display in the gallery below. A collection of family portraits bring the photographs back to a more personal, intimate setting, with many generations all together round the table or sofa.  The real draw for me though was the black and white street scenes from the 1970’s, I had never seen these before and found them fascinating, engaging the viewer with a street disappearing into the distance, each one individual and from a different city or town across the globe but all looking vaguely similar, familiar, and showing the level of development that was occurring in cities across the globe from Europe to America.

Thomas Struth is on at the Whitechapel Gallery until the 16^th September, but timeout are doing a 2 for 1 offer until the end of August.  

http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/
http://www.timeout.com/london/timeout-free-events/tickets/event/id/365