The beginnings of a scarf

Recently I started gathering up some balls of wool in the colours that I like to wear when it's cold, declaring that I do not have a scarf which goes with my current wardrobe (a lie). I am actually feeling quite stressed at the moment, and thought it would be appropriate to make a start now. Because my idea requires combining quite a few disparate colours, I thought that I should sort out the design first. This morning I have been busy on Illustrator, re-colouring and combining bits of graphs from Seed baby sweaters that I designed years ago, and others that I had created for my own projects (e.g. the dogs). I wonder if it will be a bit boring to make a scarf which has already been worked out? Maybe I'll enjoy it more because I won't have to think.

For those who are not knitters: knitting is addictive. I am convinced that that is due not only to the fun of creating something, but because the physical act of concentrating on looping and counting stitches is quite meditative. Just what I need.

Lady Wheelbarrow

Above: the new installment in the series begun a week ago with the lady and her very long hat (see previous post). I am still waiting for my readers' psychological assessments of this new obsession. No doubt it will resurface next week.

The Lady is the House

I have this urge to paint large objects on the heads of ladies in traditional costumes. There must be some pseudo-feminist agenda there: women bearing the load, etc., etc. Maybe it's personal too: a quiet form of panic setting in. Either way, it's obvious and unoriginal, but I have this need to go with it. (My next two pieces are in the planning stage already). Last night I went to the City Library and borrowed Taschen's mammoth edition of the incredible 1886 costume treasure trove by Auguste Racinet. The thing is so huge that I barely got it home, then barely dragged it to the studio today. Doesn't taschen mean pockets in German? I know that people probably wear big coats in Germany, but surely their pockets can't be a metre deep?!

This picture, above, actually started it all. In the original illustration (from a 1970s Burda magazine advertisement) the lady's headdress is not even as high as Marg Simpson's hair. I am not sure why I had the urge to repaint it so tall. (Any psychoanalyses welcome.)

A Poster for Glenn Richards

Above: Graphic design is a branch of visual communication which tends to specialise in page layout, type and all manner of elements the viewer doesn't notice -- unless they fail to communicate. I am not a graphic designer, so when I am asked to do something which is about these elements, I freak out. Just ask David, who thought that I might enjoy doing a poster for Glenn Richards. "Don't worry about it, simple is fine" he said. Even within "simple" the possibilities for a designer are endless, and it seems that I prefer to make things hard for myself anyway. When I saw the photo that was to be included with the written information, I thought it was quite lovely and it made sense to let it be the focal point. And as I am not knowledgeable with type, I decided to create my own. Unfortunately, this took quite a long time: painting then scanning and cleaning up my little alphabet, then dragging the letters around in Photoshop. A simple job that went from lunchtime to bedtime and beyond. And don't bother asking whether I am happy with the result. REAL graphic designers get asked to do these jobs for good reason.