365wordgirl: week 2

She placed the new wig on her head. Would anyone notice? It was an octupus afterall and the pong was becoming increasingly hard to ignore. Contining
to get ready for her new job as a waitress, she convinced her naughty self that the carefully applied geisha makeup would be ample protection against any attempts to be  punk’d.

Week 2:

1. Naughty
2. Beetlejuice
3. Punk’d
4. Waitress
5. Pong
6. Geisha
7. Octopus

If you would like to view this series of self-portraits on black go here

If you would like to donate a word to the project you can do so here

Perplexed are you, Sir? Of course, I would be too. It’s not everyday that eating a Croque-monsieur leads to such a chaotic path…And a path travelled with such swagger. Neither of us will need to speculate about the incident. It is more likely to amaze Starman. Having said all this, are you absolutely sure you cannot stay for another cup of tea?

Week1:

1. Croque-monsieur
2. Swagger
3. Amaze
4. Chaotic
5. Perplexed
6. Speculate
7. Starman

If you would like to view this series of self-portraits on black go here

If you would like to donate a word to the project you can do so here

• It will go for an entire year (and perhaps beyond!). Yeah that’s what 365 stands for ;]

• Each day will be assigned a word (these words come from comments on my blog), each week I will use these same words as the basis and theme of a self-portrait.
• The journey is totally unpredictable as all initial input (i.e. the daily words) into the project is via comments on my blog. Yes, that’s right, I need you to leave a word in the comment box (you can also say hi, if you like!)
• Each comment should include a word that I will then utilise in some way for my weekly self-portrait.

For example: Comments 1-7 will form the basis or ’story’ for the first self-portrait, 8-14 for the 2nd and so on. After the 52 self-portraits are complete I hope to either exhibit them in an exhibition or publish them as a book. We will see. I am both nervous and excited by this concept. I mean it could totally fail or it could be lots of fun, who knows?!?! …..there lies the challenge. So 365 words, 52 self-portraits, 1 girl and you! I need YOUR imput…..

• Please leave any comments of encouragement and ideas, as well as your ‘word’ below….

(and be imaginative, swear words (even though I love to swear),  just for the sake of it are….well, just a little boring really)

Arggghhhhh!! wish me luck!

See my progress

“I wanted to go forth and pay homage to the chicks around me that inspire me. Whether it’s creatively or their attitude. Go forth and live life. Don’t hold back..celebrate being a chick….be vunerable and love it. Show you are strong but that you can also laugh at yourself. Contradict yourself…change your mind!! But most of all be you, discover you and be passionate about it.

Cheech, Ki Ki and Sez (among others of course )…you all manage to do this . So thank you…keep doing your shit!! Be yourself and show the world your awesomeness. There is far too much ‘chicks hating on chicks’ shit going down. There is no need. World’s a big place…we can all have a piece and it ain’t no race.

Anyway this brings me to my little tale….the other night I was chatting to Cheech.

She was getting a sore ass from the shiny marble floor in Barcelona Airport. She found a powerpoint and plugged her lappy in…people were giving her strange looks….did she care??…HELL NO!! Our chatting continued. It was a funny convo. I had planned to do a paste up of some artwork I have been working on for my 30 new things. But Cheech got me thinking……then the next day in amidst a sunday afternoon rush….I concocted this. Some may say it is a little self absorbed….I say to hell with that theory, for it is my Homage to feminine energy and how amazing it can really be!!”

I still believe every word!! So thank you Cheech…thanks for inspiring, thanks for being inspired and thanks for continuing the circle of creative energy!! x

Stay tuned for my ever challenging photo project…coming soon!!

Even now as an artist and designer text and lettering features in my work.

At University I was always challenged by lecturers to explain why I used text and words in my art. I guess only recently has it really really made any sense. Before you can read and write, your world is made up entirely by images, sounds and feelings. So for me the appeal with typograghy and letters comes from that intial recognition of the shape and beauty of words. Some letters are more appealling than others and this can obviously be said about words also. Then introduce the vast array of fonts and you can see how I am in heaven ;]

Anyway…needless to say I was excited and beside myself to find these two cookie cutters out there in the interwebs.

WANT WANT WANT!!

Ok firstly we have these Helvetic cookie cutters and although they are not in production yet, I think  Beverley Hsu is pretty cool to have come up with them. Her calendar is quite nice too!

Luck for me the second beauty is alive and kicking in the world of online sales.  Message-in-a-Cookie sets are available at Williams-Sonoma exclusively

Make your own messages – more than awesome!! It’s awesome+awesome=AWESOMER

and when these babies arrive in my mailbox…first thing I will be doing with them is making these…. (oh!! and some french swearing ones also ;] )

And yeah sure…unconventional beauties have claimed their space in the fashion world, but is it merely to keep it fresh… are these Pretty Uglies ever going to make it to be the supermodels such as Christy Brinkley, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangalista became? Stella Tennant came close. She has the ability to look quite harsh and strong, almost masculine with her hardened features. Then on the other hand she can also look quite gentle and more ‘pretty’ in other instances. Some may consider Kate Moss to be someone that has achieved this recognition for her beauty,  her look was not considered at all conventional when she first gained attention in her career.

No doubt my curiousity and thoughts on this topic arise from my general rejection of mainstream ‘hollywood’ films. Fake tan, fake boobs, fake lips etc etc does nothing for me. I prefer women that grace independenet cinema, art house/foreign films, it is generally the case that the more subtitles the more ‘jolie laide’ the women. Now this word or term Jolie Laide…arkwardly translated it means Pretty Ugly…but in essence it’s about beauty that does negate the imperfections or quirks, rather it’s about celebrating them – after all it’s these things that make us unique.

Perhaps this is what I love about the women that could be labelled as ‘Jolie Laide’. There is a certain fearlessness in their ability to show their strong side and not just the vunerable ‘pretty’ side.  It is also claiming beauty on their own terms. And this is definitely what we need more of if we want our youth to grow up without thinking they need to fit into a box. The more diversity the better! It’s as though there is a more compelling message here, a message for women and also for men. After all, in my eyes there is nothing quite as ugly as a pre-packaged airbrushed pose à la Paris Hilton. So become the master at showing off the features that make you unique, chances are that’s what makes your beautiful.

For me Jolie Laide is personified best by the following beauties (at least as these women are well known):

(If I were to include a few more, women such as Grace Jones, Cate Blanchett, Sofia Coppola and Tilda Swinton would no doubt get a mention.)  So who would you consider to be ‘Jolie Laide’??

1.Vanessa Paradis

2.Rossy de Palma

3.Charlotte Gainsbourg

4.Juliette Lewis

5. Charlotte Rampling

Lately I have been thinking a lot about ‘the self’ and self portraiture. During September, my 30 new things project got me thinking a lot about the celebration of ones self/image… hmm self and image! How exclusive are these two of each other, really? What do these two things mean in popular culture right now? With the bombardment of social networking and celebrity scandals and imagery, it’s almost like a race to be seen. What is my part in this circus? At times I truly feel that life is too short and one should have no qualms in the excessive portrayal of one’s image. But it this excess just for the sake of it?

Whilst under going my 30 new things project I dare say I indulged (for lack of a better word) in a few self portraits tinted with narcissism. Many may see it as nothing more. No doubt some may say this about many of my facebook photos also. So why have I found myself at this place…slightly obsessed with portraying ‘me’….perhaps it’s as my friend Robstar so kindly put it the other night…I am evolving! Am I subconsciously fearfully of the change being so constant that I need to attempt to document this change. Each self portrait being a slice of time. I will never be that person again. I kind of like this idea. I also like the idea that it push people’s buttons…but that’s maybe another story.

When I think of all this I can’t help but think of Cindy Sherman. Since studying photography at University I have always been interested in her work. Cindy uses herself as the subject in her photos, although they are far from being considered self-portraits. Always a different character in her work, Sherman communicates her views on women in society, their depiction in the media as well as raising questions regarding the modern world in general. Her photos have a distinct style and no matter what the message are always theatrical.

Although much more humourous and lighthearted, I guess my Tankgirl series touched on a similiar thing. And what girl doesn’t want to be Tankgirl!

…..and then there was my Dali-inspired attempt at being a man….

So OK maybe I’m no Cindy Sherman…but she no doubt influences and motivates me to not only feel at ease with using myself as the subject, but also use this medium as a valid form of art. It’s not narcissistic!! (ok maybe just a tiny, tiny bit ;]) presently I am devising an idea/project that will take this concept further.

I really love the daily self portrait projects people undertake…and 09h09 often makes me laugh. It’s the blog of Jean-Michel Gobet…he takes a photo of himself everyday at 9.09am…no matter where he is..the caption is in both french and english…an added bonus for people like me trying to learn french. And..he has been doing these daily arms length self portraits since 2002….Wow!!

Stay tuned for new MOOKIE adventures containing high amounts of narcissistic tendencies and cheap arms-length snapshottery!

I am a firm believer in everyone possessing the ability to draw. We all start off as small children having an innocent and free spirit with mark making…It’s primal. Mankind has always done it. The older we get the more we get told we either have talent or we don’t…so chances are that if you were told throughout school that your drawings suck, you probably stopped drawing. But…just think of the amazing artists that ignored this criticism.Your marks on paper are unique..it’s not about confirming…it’s about expression. Yeah OK there are other ways to express yourself…of course…but making mark on paper is a simple thing we can all do daily.

I while ago I started a daily doodle thing…but I guess it was not really that structured and I kinda lost direction. Here are 3 daily doodle projects I think are really inspiring…

Lunch Bag Art A dad draws on a brown paper bag daily for his kids!!

Awesome!

Postcards to my Parents -  Carolyn Sewell of Pedestrian Typography has started a project as an anniversary present to her parents. Everyday she sends them a new postcard that she has doodled. Love it!

Natalie of Definatalie.com offers her monthly desktop calendar for free download

and here is a little doodle project via twitter LUNCHDOODLE doodle during lunch and tweet it!

So whatcha waiting for…grab a pen and get doodling!!