Just why I love my iphone

An ode to you Darling iphone, you're the one Never has a phone been so much fun Your sweet little icons fill me with glee Breathless.  Mindblowing. Technology.. I can track my periods and make a graph, I can prod fish in a pond for a laugh I can take you jogging and create a map And fortunately there's even an app to map the stars and chase away mosquitos, to track down songs and edit photos. To read all of Shakespeare or Grimm's fairy tales, Franz Kafka and HG Wells, TO FINISH! http://www.apple.com/iphone/ http://www.iphonefreak.com/ Look out for jailbreaking because that allows you to do even more with your phone, but don't expect me to know how. Also, do you really need to make your screen purpley streaky? Not enough time for this..

Finally finishing my kitchen

After 2 years of dilemma-ing I wish there was a course I could go on to learn about how to acheive different finishes on wood because it might be very satisfying to restore my old bits of furniture... On wood types and how to finish them: http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/blog/ http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/project-guides.htm

Jane Dorner's glass art

My 3 fave pieces of artist Jane Dorner, who is someone who's produced SO much ARTY STUFF in her life I am constantly in awe.
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Ampersand River is a mobile triptych for CLA’s reception area and it expresses the agency’s role in enabling the spread of creativity and learning. The piece is a river of glass, made up of roundels and lenses meandering across three frames (representing the authors, illustrators and publishers on whose behalf CLA acts). Its outline is that of the River Fleet which runs parallel to the piece some yards away beneath the building.Materials: optical lenses and kiln-formed pieces; mixed techniques (silver stain, engraving, sandblasting, enamelling, fusing and mirror silvering); oak frames Dimensions: 2.5 x 1.15 metres
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This is entitled ‘Comma Separated Values’ and shows an outsize punctuation mark made of layers of optical lenses.Removed from context, it could be a comma, an apostrophe or a quotation mark. This ambiguity is reflective of the way in which language, meaning and vision alter according to perspective. In all performance, point of view determines our interpretation of what we see and hear.A storyteller accompanies this piece and draws out the themes of ways of seeing by demonstrating myths and fairytales with alternative endings or ambiguous interpretations.300+ opththalmic lenses fused at 720°C with some additional clear lenses affixed. Wooden frame oil-gilded with aluminium leaf. 910 mm high x 730 mm wide, with base.
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This piece is based around the circle as a metaphor for the cycle of life. It celebrates exuberance and asymmetry of pattern within a constraining circular form. The patterns are drawn from primitive motifs from all parts of the world as well as from photomicrographs of living organisms. Within this arrangement is the human form; at times precariously wedged, at others in harmony with the rest. They are bound by patterns that have existed before they were born.Lenses decorated with degussa enamels, lustres, engraving, inclusions and metallising, with additional ruby glass roundels from MRJ Furnaces. Frame made of maple. 650 mm x 980 mm.

see more of Jane's stuff and upcoming exhibitions here; http://www.editor.net/glass/installation.html

Tagged Arty glass

All things red and beautiful

From the RCA Secrets postcard exhibition [gallery columns="2"]
Tagged Arty colour red

Colour by numbers

Hex numbers - quite useful for web designing and graphics.
Colour Name Col Select a Colour Hex R G B Access
indian red indian red #B0171F 176 23 31 2037680
crimson crimson #DC143C 220 20 60 3937500
lightpink lightpink #FFB6C1 255 182 193 12695295
lightpink 1 lightpink 1 #FFAEB9 255 174 185 12168959
lightpink 2 lightpink 2 #EEA2AD 238 162 173 11379438
lightpink 3 lightpink 3 #CD8C95 205 140 149 9800909
lightpink 4 lightpink 4 #8B5F65 139 95 101 6643595
pink pink #FFC0CB 255 192 203 13353215
pink 1 pink 1 #FFB5C5 255 181 197 12957183
pink 2 pink 2 #EEA9B8 238 169 184 12102126
pink 3 pink 3 #CD919E 205 145 158 10392013
pink 4 pink 4 #8B636C 139 99 108 7103371
palevioletred palevioletred #DB7093 219 112 147 9662683
palevioletred 1 palevioletred 1 #FF82AB 255 130 171 11240191
palevioletred 2 palevioletred 2 #EE799F 238 121 159 10451438
palevioletred 3 palevioletred 3 #CD6889 205 104 137 9005261
palevioletred 4 palevioletred 4 #8B475D 139 71 93 6113163
lavenderblush 1 (lavenderblush) lavenderblush 1 (lavenderblush) #FFF0F5 255 240 245 16118015
lavenderblush 2 lavenderblush 2 #EEE0E5 238 224 229 15065326
lavenderblush 3 lavenderblush 3 #CDC1C5 205 193 197 12960205
lavenderblush 4 lavenderblush 4 #8B8386 139 131 134 8815499
violetred 1 violetred 1 #FF3E96 255 62 150 9846527
violetred 2 violetred 2 #EE3A8C 238 58 140 9190126
violetred 3 violetred 3 #CD3278 205 50 120 7877325
violetred 4 violetred 4 #8B2252 139 34 82 5382795
hotpink hotpink #FF69B4 255 105 180 11823615
hotpink 1 hotpink 1 #FF6EB4 255 110 180 11824895
hotpink 2 hotpink 2 #EE6AA7 238 106 167 10971886
hotpink 3 hotpink 3 #CD6090 205 96 144 9461965
hotpink 4 hotpink 4 #8B3A62 139 58 98 6437515
raspberry raspberry #872657 135 38 87 5711495
deeppink 1 (deeppink) deeppink 1 (deeppink) #FF1493 255 20 147 9639167
deeppink 2 deeppink 2 #EE1289 238 18 137 8983278
deeppink 3 deeppink 3 #CD1076 205 16 118 7737549
deeppink 4 deeppink 4 #8B0A50 139 10 80 5245579
maroon 1 maroon 1 #FF34B3 255 52 179 11744511
maroon 2 maroon 2 #EE30A7 238 48 167 10957038
maroon 3 maroon 3 #CD2990 205 41 144 9447885
maroon 4 maroon 4 #8B1C62 139 28 98 6429835
mediumvioletred mediumvioletred #C71585 199 21 133 8721863
violetred violetred #D02090 208 32 144 9445584
orchid orchid #DA70D6 218 112 214 14053594
orchid 1 orchid 1 #FF83FA 255 131 250 16417791
orchid 2 orchid 2 #EE7AE9 238 122 233 15301358
orchid 3 orchid 3 #CD69C9 205 105 201 13199821
orchid 4 orchid 4 #8B4789 139 71 137 8996747
thistle thistle #D8BFD8 216 191 216 14204888
thistle 1 thistle 1 #FFE1FF 255 225 255 16769535
thistle 2 thistle 2 #EED2EE 238 210 238 15651566
thistle 3 thistle 3 #CDB5CD 205 181 205 13481421
thistle 4 thistle 4 #8B7B8B 139 123 139 9141131
plum 1 plum 1 #FFBBFF 255 187 255 16759807
plum 2 plum 2 #EEAEEE 238 174 238 15642350
plum 3 plum 3 #CD96CD 205 150 205 13473485
plum 4 plum 4 #8B668B 139 102 139 9135755
plum plum #DDA0DD 221 160 221 14524637
violet violet #EE82EE 238 130 238 15631086
magenta (fuchsia*) magenta (fuchsia*) #FF00FF 255 0 255 16711935
magenta 2 magenta 2 #EE00EE 238 0 238 15597806
magenta 3 magenta 3 #CD00CD 205 0 205 13435085
magenta 4 (darkmagenta) magenta 4 (darkmagenta) #8B008B 139 0 139 9109643
purple* purple* #800080 128 0 128 8388736
mediumorchid mediumorchid #BA55D3 186 85 211 13850042
mediumorchid 1 mediumorchid 1 #E066FF 224 102 255 16738016
mediumorchid 2 mediumorchid 2 #D15FEE 209 95 238 15622097
mediumorchid 3 mediumorchid 3 #B452CD 180 82 205 13456052
mediumorchid 4 mediumorchid 4 #7A378B 122 55 139 9123706
darkviolet darkviolet #9400D3 148 0 211 13828244
darkorchid darkorchid #9932CC 153 50 204 13382297
darkorchid 1 darkorchid 1 #BF3EFF 191 62 255 16727743
darkorchid 2 darkorchid 2 #B23AEE 178 58 238 15612594
darkorchid 3 darkorchid 3 #9A32CD 154 50 205 13447834
darkorchid 4 darkorchid 4 #68228B 104 34 139 9118312
indigo indigo #4B0082 75 0 130 8519755
blueviolet blueviolet #8A2BE2 138 43 226 14822282
purple 1 purple 1 #9B30FF 155 48 255 16724123
purple 2 purple 2 #912CEE 145 44 238 15608977
purple 3 purple 3 #7D26CD 125 38 205 13444733
purple 4 purple 4 #551A8B 85 26 139 9116245
mediumpurple mediumpurple #9370DB 147 112 219 14381203
mediumpurple 1 mediumpurple 1 #AB82FF 171 130 255 16745131
mediumpurple 2 mediumpurple 2 #9F79EE 159 121 238 15628703
mediumpurple 3 mediumpurple 3 #8968CD 137 104 205 13461641
mediumpurple 4 mediumpurple 4 #5D478B 93 71 139 9127773
darkslateblue darkslateblue #483D8B 72 61 139 9125192
lightslateblue lightslateblue #8470FF 132 112 255 16740484
mediumslateblue mediumslateblue #7B68EE 123 104 238 15624315
slateblue slateblue #6A5ACD 106 90 205 13458026
slateblue 1 slateblue 1 #836FFF 131 111 255 16740227
slateblue 2 slateblue 2 #7A67EE 122 103 238 15624058
slateblue 3 slateblue 3 #6959CD 105 89 205 13457769
slateblue 4 slateblue 4 #473C8B 71 60 139 9124935
ghostwhite ghostwhite #F8F8FF 248 248 255 16775416
lavender lavender #E6E6FA 230 230 250 16443110
blue* blue* #0000FF 0 0 255 16711680
blue 2 blue 2 #0000EE 0 0 238 15597568
blue 3 (mediumblue) blue 3 (mediumblue) #0000CD 0 0 205 13434880
blue 4 (darkblue) blue 4 (darkblue) #00008B 0 0 139 9109504
navy* navy* #000080 0 0 128 8388608
midnightblue midnightblue #191970 25 25 112 7346457
cobalt cobalt #3D59AB 61 89 171 11229501
royalblue royalblue #4169E1 65 105 225 14772545
royalblue 1 royalblue 1 #4876FF 72 118 255 16741960
royalblue 2 royalblue 2 #436EEE 67 110 238 15625795
royalblue 3 royalblue 3 #3A5FCD 58 95 205 13459258
royalblue 4 royalblue 4 #27408B 39 64 139 9125927
cornflowerblue cornflowerblue #6495ED 100 149 237 15570276
lightsteelblue lightsteelblue #B0C4DE 176 196 222 14599344
lightsteelblue 1 lightsteelblue 1 #CAE1FF 202 225 255 16769482
lightsteelblue 2 lightsteelblue 2 #BCD2EE 188 210 238 15651516
lightsteelblue 3 lightsteelblue 3 #A2B5CD 162 181 205 13481378
lightsteelblue 4 lightsteelblue 4 #6E7B8B 110 123 139 9141102
lightslategray lightslategray #778899 119 136 153 10061943
slategray slategray #708090 112 128 144 9470064
slategray 1 slategray 1 #C6E2FF 198 226 255 16769734
slategray 2 slategray 2 #B9D3EE 185 211 238 15651769
slategray 3 slategray 3 #9FB6CD 159 182 205 13481631
slategray 4 slategray 4 #6C7B8B 108 123 139 9141100
dodgerblue 1 (dodgerblue) dodgerblue 1 (dodgerblue) #1E90FF 30 144 255 16748574
dodgerblue 2 dodgerblue 2 #1C86EE 28 134 238 15631900
dodgerblue 3 dodgerblue 3 #1874CD 24 116 205 13464600
dodgerblue 4 dodgerblue 4 #104E8B 16 78 139 9129488
aliceblue aliceblue #F0F8FF 240 248 255 16775408
steelblue steelblue #4682B4 70 130 180 11829830
steelblue 1 steelblue 1 #63B8FF 99 184 255 16758883
steelblue 2 steelblue 2 #5CACEE 92 172 238 15641692
steelblue 3 steelblue 3 #4F94CD 79 148 205 13472847
steelblue 4 steelblue 4 #36648B 54 100 139 9135158
lightskyblue lightskyblue #87CEFA 135 206 250 16436871
lightskyblue 1 lightskyblue 1 #B0E2FF 176 226 255 16769712
lightskyblue 2 lightskyblue 2 #A4D3EE 164 211 238 15651748
lightskyblue 3 lightskyblue 3 #8DB6CD 141 182 205 13481613
lightskyblue 4 lightskyblue 4 #607B8B 96 123 139 9141088
skyblue 1 skyblue 1 #87CEFF 135 206 255 16764551
skyblue 2 skyblue 2 #7EC0EE 126 192 238 15646846
skyblue 3 skyblue 3 #6CA6CD 108 166 205 13477484
skyblue 4 skyblue 4 #4A708B 74 112 139 9138250
skyblue skyblue #87CEEB 135 206 235 15453831
deepskyblue 1 (deepskyblue) deepskyblue 1 (deepskyblue) #00BFFF 0 191 255 16760576
deepskyblue 2 deepskyblue 2 #00B2EE 0 178 238 15643136
deepskyblue 3 deepskyblue 3 #009ACD 0 154 205 13474304
deepskyblue 4 deepskyblue 4 #00688B 0 104 139 9136128
peacock peacock #33A1C9 51 161 201 13214003
lightblue lightblue #ADD8E6 173 216 230 15128749
lightblue 1 lightblue 1 #BFEFFF 191 239 255 16773055
lightblue 2 lightblue 2 #B2DFEE

Jewellry on show

I had a problem - too much jewellry. I'd inherited much of it from my mother, and it was big, colourful, and tangely-uppy. Also, I never wore any of it because it was always tangled away in some box. Then, I had a brainwave! I came across an old decorative metal mannequin from the department store Dickens & Jones, which closed down - at least that was what the junk shop man said. He said there were only a few left. It's nothing like what you find on the net, much nicer with intricate spirals - a piece of art in itself. I knew it was exactly what I needed to hang all those necklaces on, so I twirled some fairy lights through and hung all my bits and pieces on it - it brings me a lot of pleasure, especially at night. I think my mother would approve.
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The carbon footprint of the art world's Biennale industry

[gallery link="file" columns="2"] As I work on a project about Venice's Art Biennale, I'm thinking about what a massive carbon footprint it has. For those not in the know, the art biennale which happens every 2 years in Venice is the world's oldest, and has spawned a whole industry of  biennales all over the world - Istanbul, Manifesta, Documenta, being just some. Thousands of art lovers and critics and artists and Venice lovers from all over the world converge on the water-logged city, planeload after planeload, private jets galore; and of course let us not forget the environmental impact of the transportation of the artworks themselves. To get to the Venice biennale, particularly in the stressful-sounding opening week when you just HAVE to be seen at all the parties, is arguably the hottest ticket in the art world's calendar. Millions of pounds gets pumped into these exhibitions, and the spectacular nature of the event is fueled by the stage within which it exists - Venice itself, cultural crossroads of the globe, steeped in centuries of cutting-edge art, architecture and historical significance. The media go wild. But it all feels a bit exclusive and elitist. Who really goes? What proportion of the world is actually helped by spending all this money and creating all these carbon emissions? Traditionally organised by national pavilions, the number of countries exhibiting this year is around 77,  many of which have no designated pavilion in which to exhibit. These are the later entrants to the art scene - forced to exhibit elsewhere in a spare palazzo in a far flung corner of Venice rather than in the coveted Giardini or Arsenale. Sometimes they end up lucky - the Comorros Islands, represented by Italian artist Paolo Tamburella (an old friend of mine from Rome incidentally), couldn't even get a patch on land to exhibit, but was allotted a patch of water - which is right next to the Giardini entrance. Paolo catches the eye of the visitor immediately drawing attention to their exclusion, with a crumbling Comorros old boat, banned by Comoros authorities in favour of modernisation - on which rests a modern cargo container. So the Comorros Islands get some attention. But what if all this money was instead spent on the poorer countries to help local artists and galleries? It might get spread around a little better. The jostling for exhibition space by competing nations, around Venice, just shows how significant these countries think it is to be included in the Venice Biennale, which demonstrates the globalisation of the art world in many ways. The Biennale's strength is that it breaks the dominance of the western European and American art scene so that we hear and see a more diverse range of voices, in turn bringing a new range of political, social and economic issues to the world's attention. But the negative is perhaps that it ain't cheap, and perhaps fosters gentrification, it is an industry like any other with certain political and economic imperatives, and of course my original point - the environmental impacts are gi-normous.

Getting the Plot...allotment plans!

My name is down for 2 allotments (greedy!) which should be coming up in the next year. Because I am unlikely to be able to tend to them all by myself, let alone eat the produce, I'm planning to turn them into permacultured forest gardens in which my local community can learn to grow  and share food by close observance of nature and how it behaves in order to get the best fruit and veg. Seeing as I only took up gardening in September 08, I've gotta lot to learn! So in fact, I'll be looking for teachers and gardeners ready to come along and show groups what to do and why. I attended a short permaculture course at Naturewise in the Lea Valley in July '09 and there's certainly a lot of fascinating theory to learn about too. Wish I had time to attend the longer courses. http://www.naturewise.org.uk/page.cfm. There is even a Permaculture Picture House in east London devoted to showing films on this topic. The best known is Rebecca Hoskings BBC documentary "A Farm for the Future", which you can probably find a copy of somewhere. I'll be returning to this post to write more about permaculture and to start mapping out how we might plan the plots and if you have any suggestions as to planting combinations you have found successful, I'd love to hear. EG - maize supports the climbing runner beans and squash plants used as ground cover beneath them prevents weeds. On the other hand, I need to get the community involved so I'll leave a lot till then. I'd also like to get a local artist on board to document our plots development.  Also, I'd like to see bikes with trailers selling the produce door to door, all over the community. As always, how to fund it?