Paper Tags and Teddies

One of my next roles is playing a 1940's evacuee, I'll have to start my research soon but today I was just flicking through a basic search of images, they are so striking and beautiful.

They all look they have no idea what's happening. Their parents must have been terrified for them, hoping they were doing the best.

 

 So many of those kids will have never seen the country before, never been out of London. All they seem to have is a Teddy and a Satchel each.

This has really whetted my appetite and I'm genuinely looking forward to doing some thorough research on this period.

"Everybody thought that they were the last one to be picked."

-Betty Posner

 

Facing a Wall of Inspiration

I have started a collage of images I like around my dressing table mirror. It's helping me define and focus my schizophrenic style.....plus it allows me to throw out a load of magazines that I have been hoarding.

There's still another stack to go through...and a whole lotta wall!

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same."
-- Coco Chanel

My Light needs Shade...

I still need lampshades - my flat is full of bare hanging bulbs because I can't seem to find anything I;

a) like

b) can afford

I am on the hunt...

re-surface.net $350

Colin Chetwood £95

Helen Minns £85

The Hare looks a bit dead though...

Heals £55

The French Bedroom Company £150

Bhs £56.00

"There are two kinds of light - the glow that illumines, and the glare that obscures."

~James Thurber

Gary's Garden

I noticed today that Gary the Cat clearly approved of the garden's developments, he loves chilling out on his new lawn, watching....the wall.

"Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing."

- Dodie Smith

Green Fingers = Muddy Nails

When we moved into this new flat the garden was a WRECK!

It was so overgrown we could barely find it! Our previous home shared a garden with 2 other flats, one of our neighbours enjoyed gardening so much and he turned it into a stunning cottage garden.

It was gorgeous to be in but you did feel that you couldn't partake in the actual gardening as it was his baby, so when we moved in here, we I was delighted that I could have my very own garden to develop just the way I liked.

And boy did we have a job on our hands! After a LOT of weeding and pruning (thank you Phil, Penny and James!) we discovered that we had 4 badly done gravel pits, one ugly central tree and not a lot else so we decided to use as much of the gravel as we could rescue and make a seating area at the back, a path leading and dig the rest over to plant.

Plodding along with our plan we got a surprise call from HawkandFallow one Thursday - she was at a Pop-Up shop in Clerkenwell selling her delicious cards and the organisers had carpeted the shop with grass turf. At the end of the 3 days they needed to get rid of it so did we want some for our garden - YES INDEED!

I got there on the Sunday, wrapped as much as I could carry in bin bags, hailed a cab and took it home to lay and religiously water for 2 weeks, hoping that it would survive being on concrete and trampled on for 3 days.

After much TLC, a big garden centre shop for flowers and gravel we have a baby garden!

I've planted a few bulbs also which will hopefully grow up to reveal beautiful flowers next Spring. 

It's young and still a bit bare but it's full of promise.

"In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.  My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.  The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful." 

~Abram L. Urban

The Big One's Premiere!

The Big One's very first short film, 'A Line in the Sand', is premiering tonight at Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road.  It's a short, beautifully realised film, written and performed by the incredible performance poet Kate Tempest and directed by The Big One (although that's not his professional name).

I have been a witness to all the intense planning, creativity, dedication and downright hard work that has gone into this remarkable film, the result really is a thing of beauty.

If you are about, or know of anyone in the area who fancies a look-see then it'll be screened at 8:45 this evening and it's free entry.

The film is featuring in a night of performance poetry hosted by Apples and Snakes which all kicks off at 7:30pm. It's bound to be a great 'talk about it afterwards' night so don't miss out!

'Performance poetry is poetry that has been written specifically to be declaimed in public, as opposed to poetry that really belongs on a page and is simply being read out. The difference is a subtle one: performance poetry may rely more heavily on rhyme, insistent rhythm or a narrative thread. And the poet, too, will be aware that he or she has an audience and will make some concessions to them. For some poets, this means leaping about; for others, a little eye-contact can suffice. Performance poets, indeed, come in many forms: some have thoughts to share, whilst others wish to display their verbal dexterity, or simply entertain. You could argue, too, that they are perpetuating the oral tradition that is fundamental to so many cultures.'
- Apples and Snakes website