Craft

Reasons to be greatful: a morning of rain

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It’s been so hot this week and it turns out that it’s quite difficult to cool down our flat when the sun is out. I really struggle in warm weather as I get light headed a lot and find it difficult to concentrate. I have not done much art this week, but I have done lots of extra sleeping.

This morning when I woke up I could hear the rain against our windows and the air was significantly cooler. Our cats have been having a nice time this morning looking out of the windows into the rain.

I also make art. You can things with my designs on at my shop here. Could even treat yourself if you wanted to. Just saying.

New story board attempt.

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It’s been a while since I’ve had time to sit down and draw. After we moved and adopted the cats it’s taken a bit of time to settle in to doing creative things with paper. I’ve now been through a full cycle of ivf which was exhausting but ok. We are waiting on the outcome now. I also had quite a lot of animation work left to do on the computer and so prioritised getting that done.

But today I had some time to sit and draw some mini story boards for a documentary I’ve been working on for some time. I have some audio that needs visuals to go with it and I’ve been animating those sections among others. It feels really nice to be drawing again.

In other news I’ve started a patreon. There isn’t much on there at the moment but I’m planning to post pictures and updates on my drawing and writing which I’m less happy to put out in the public lest the ideas get pinched. I’d really appreciate it if people would be interested in following me there.

You can follow me here:

https://www.patreon.com/Midnight Magpie

Taking public transport in East London

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A few months ago myself and my partner moved from Kent into East London to be closer to work. The plan was to cut down on our commuting time and take that time back for other things. I thought I would spend more time doing arty things, but actually I seem to spend that time having elaborate conversations with the two cats we adopted almost as soon as we got here.

Moving areas means that we have tried out a range of new tube, train and bus routes. I’ve spent quite a bit of time recently watching people, and watching the scenery from the top deck of the bus. Londoners have this reputation for coldness on public transport. Never make eye contact, don’t chat. Try to get a seat alone and absolutely don’t surrender it. I think this often reflects my experience of travelling around London in general. However I’ve been taking the bus in East London quite a bit recently and I have notice quite a different pattern. I have noticed many moments of generosity on the bus amongst people who appear to take the same route everyday and who know each other to look at. The father taking his kid to school who sees another parent and offers to chaperone her child too. The young man getting up from his seat for an elderly lady. The people who move about so a young family can sit together.

I think Londoners have a bit of a reputation for coldness, and East London has a bit of a reputation for worse. But if you look for it there is a lot of good stuff happening here too, like those little moments of kindness on the bus to work or school.

More thoughts on mental health in the theatre – point me in the direction of better stories.

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Just so you know chaps, Spoilers ahead…

Two weekends ago I went to see the play Equus with a friend of mine. I don’t want to turn this blog into a ‘review of psychological plays’ blog, or indeed give the impression that I am more cultured than I am, always off to the theatre. The reality is more sitting in bed watching telly with my partner and cats rather than glamorous outings to the theatre. However I do have some more thoughts on this issue after seeing this play.

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on Cypress Avenue by David Ireland (which was on at the Royal Court Theatre) but now I can’t seem to find the blog post, only the title – did anyone see the text? – it was a good post (even if I do say so myself) but wordpress seems only to have saved the title. I don’t know what happened, and I don’t think I’m going to re-write that post. Basically by thoughts were: was very funny, and probably has a lot to say about the legacy of violence in Northern Ireland. It’s the kind of play that middle class people  who are mostly untroubled by violence or poverty (I say this being a middle class person) come out of saying things like ‘shocking’, and ‘very powerful’. However from the point of view of talking about mental health, it’s really problematic. I’m really fed up with the ‘traumatised man goes mad and kills his whole family narrative’, it’s time for the ‘person goes through trauma and then turns that experience into something positive for them and their community’ narrative’, or the ‘person goes through trauma, and it’s pretty horrible, but they end up ok, and don’t kill anyone narrative.’ So that’s a summary of what that was about – I am sorry if you ended up seeing a blog post with a title and no content (especially after I claimed I was going to be a bit more consistent with my blogging again).

Cypress Avenue was a relatively new play compared to Equus, which was written by Peter Shaffer in 1973. I liked this one better, performed at the Stratford Playhouse, as I will explain, but I have different issues with this one. So basically it’s a play about a boy who blind’s six horses with a spike, which was a real world event in the 1970’s. Apparently the playwright wanted to think about what would drive a person to do such a thing. The story is of a boy who has built a vivid inner mental world that results in the blinding horses situation. It’s quite an intellectual play, based on a psychoanalytical perspective that ultimately manages to tie (because it’s freudian after all) everything back to some sexual event. I’m being a bit glib and a bit brief here but that’s the jist of it – I enjoyed the play and think it’s worth seeing/ reading. There were some really wonderful physical performances by the actors, and it very much treats the young man as a person, as a human being in pain, not as some kind of monster. I liked it for that. I also like that it kind of raises the question of whether it is right to take away someone’s belief system, just because it does not align with the majority view, although it does not answer this question (I am not sure that it could).

But here’s my problem with it. Many times through the play we hear that ‘the boy is in misery’ but we don’t actually see much of that on stage. So it’s a bit of sanitised view of that misery, and mostly we just have to take the word of the ‘professionals’ on the stage that this is the case. The boy has built an elaborate belief system around horses, and he then goes on to violate that belief system by attempting a sexual act in the stable (the symbolic Temple of Equus). The whole play basically treats mental illness as a puzzle – if you can just solve the puzzle then you will fix the person. I just don’t think it works like that in real life for many people. It’s an intellectual approach to mental health that I don’t think really respects the kind of pain and distress that people live with and go through. Many people who experience mental health problems (including myself) haven’t built elaborate belief systems that can be analysed and ‘solved’ in this way. Many people have been through understandable trauma, or live difficult, stressful lives, or are bullied and belittled on a regular basis or made to feel by society that they are ‘wrong’ in some fundamental way. It’s not a complicated secret to them where their pain comes from, what is complicated is how to alleviate that pain. For most people experiencing mental distress – it’s not a puzzle that can be solved and fixed, it’s an ongoing, day by day experience that they continue to endure. Understanding your own story can be the start of a healing journey, but it’s rarely the whole solution.

So, I still think we need better stories about mental health. However, as I confessed to at the beginning of this post, I am someone who mostly sits around with her partner and cats watching telly, it’s very likely that I have missed them. I would very much appreciate it if anyone has any good recommendations for plays, films, or books that give a more nuanced picture of mental health. Drop your recommendation in the comments – at some point I will write a post about the results.

Art and other things in 2019

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Followers of this blog may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet of late. I wasn’t feeling particularly wordy before Christmas, and things have been bit busy since. However, I am feeling quite a bit better now, and I’m going to try to get back to more regular posting from now on. Posting is still likely to be inconsistent for the next 6 weeks or or so, as I’ll be moving house, which will be disruptive. We’ve made a decision to move into the centre of town which will be much closer to work, but more expensive. I’ve also needed to go back to full time working for the time being as there is too much to do at work for me on 4 days a week at the moment. That will help with the cost of things, but will eat into my creative time. I think the move will make life a lot easier. There will be no train travel, which is increasingly expensive, inconsistent, and stressful, and more time in the evenings for creative things. There will also be more time for swimming and climbing with my sister, when I don’t need to send an hour travelling each way anymore.

I have two big creative projects planned this year. I’ll be trying to finish my film, and trying to write my novel. I’ll be posting bits and pieces of both here, along with another whimsical arts projects I get going with on the way. I hope that you will let me know if you like any of this as we go along. I’ll also be getting back to the ‘Objects with Meaning’ Project. Moving house is a good time to look at things, throw bits out, and remember why you keep the things that you do.

On that note I’m going to finish off by directing you to another blog that has really been embracing an ‘Objects with Meaning’ theme recently. One Woman on a Journey has recently been making posts about objects she has found in her own house at she ‘declutters’. Please go over there and read these lovely posts about Captain Ted Funnel, a special wine glass, and a hook.

I also make art. You can things with my designs on at my shop here. Could even treat yourself if you wanted to. Just saying.

Thinking about next year

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I have been a bit quiet of late. I’ve been really tired and had to concentrate my energies of doing just a few things rather than the usual broader scope of stuff I get involved in. However I’ve not been sitting around doing nothing. I have begun to write a novel that has been hanging around in my head for several years now, and am not so far off finishing my film now. I’ve also enjoyed seeing some art recently, and particularly enjoyed the chunks of arctic ice that were outside of the Tate Modern for a short while (see photos here).

I’m hoping with the coming of the new year I’ll be feeling a bit more like myself again. Keeping that in mind I’ve been thinking a bit about when next year has in store. We’ll be moving house in February, to be closer to work. The rationale is that this will cut down on travel time and be a bit less stressful, although more expensive. It looks very likely that we’ll also be starting IVF later in the year so that is something to get mentally and physically prepared for. With that in mind I have more swimming, climbing and walking planned, and maybe a bit of running too. How about you?

Creatively I have quite a few things planning. I’m hoping to wrap up my film this year and get a draft done of my novel (or novella, I’m not sure how long it will be). I’m thinking about publishing some short sections here – is that something you would like to read? I’m also planning more art and the beginnings of an animated story. So that’s plenty to be getting on with.

I hope you have all had a good festive break and are looking forwards to the new year.

Friday fun

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I wanted to share a quick pic of these origami elephants that I made last week for my boyfriend’s birthday. My normal creative MO is cutting paper, but I didn’t start there. Several years ago I became interested in paper art forms through trying my hand at origami. I really loved the elegance of the forms you can create through simply folding paper.

I moved on to paper cutting after seeing an exhibition in the Tate Modern by Matisse. His late work included very large organic shapes cut from large vibrantly coloured pieces of paper. To begin with I was interested in the different silhouettes I could create using bold and contrasting colours. More recently I have been exploring different textures and patterns, including using cloth that has been coated in PVA glue. My practice continues to evolve.

But now and again I try my hand at origami again to make my brain work differently. It’s more like art as a puzzle for me as I still need to follow other people’s patterns. The elephants here were folded from this lovely pattern at spruce crafts.

I also make art. You can things with my designs on at my shop here. Could even treat yourself if you wanted to. Just saying.

DIY Sould repair and ‘Womb Art’ – does anyone really want to see that?

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I think I have been putting off posting this for quite some time because I’m really not sure who would want to see this kind of thing. I had been working on a little series of pieces called DIY soul repair, which had included a skull and a heart. I was thinking about a kind of gothic steam punky series that would involve bones and other bodily organs. And then I started having all sorts of tests and treatments for infertility and the series itself felt more relevant. So I felt I had to get a uterus involved. So this third piece in the series now looks like this (available on things on redbubble here).

Still F__king perfect_blue

So I was actually pretty happy with the way that turned out. But I also felt it was a bit depressing, so I took photos the white paper cutouts that I used as stencils for the red paper parts on this piece and used the outline of these to ‘cut’ other photos of papercut flowers I have to create something a bit more positive, which turned out like this (available on things on redbubble here), which I kind of like because if feels a bit cheeky and a bit more positive given the current empty state of my own uterus.

The lady garden 2 red

So I am not really sure if anyone would be into this kind of thing, but here it is, anyway. I think I kind of enjoyed making these for me anyway so I’m not bothered if no one else is interested.

I also make non uterus related art. You can things with my designs on at my shop here. Could even treat yourself if you wanted to. Just saying.

Objects with meaning #22 – my ‘first’ Engagement ring

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When I first started the “Objects with Meaning’ series I had a stack of photos left over from an arts project I did some time ago that I felt I could give a second life to. They have run out now. I have plenty more objects to talk, but posts in this series are likely to be a bit more sporadic from now on as I am not always great at time management. If you would like to contribute your own ‘Object with Meaning’ like Scar, Laurie, and Blue Velvet Jacket have (if you have not read these posts already, I thoroughly reccomend them), I would really welcome that. Please write your post, and then make sure to let me know you have done so in a comment down below. I will link it in a future post.

So this is my ‘first’ engagement ring. My partner and I got engaged in January this year while taking a few days away in Cambridge. My boyfriend had made a really good effort at convincing me before hand that he didnt believe in marriage, so when he proposed I was a) completely suprised, and b) suspicious enough to check with him several times that he wasn’t just pulling my leg. The BF had carefully planned how it was all going to happen, which involved a romantic walk through Cambridge to a craft market where a silver smith works with recycled silver to make bespoke pieces. But things never quite go as planned. We did have the romantic walk but it was just before Valentines Day and the silversmith was not there because he was busy in his studio working through a pile of Valentine orders. We then walked around Cambridge looking at other jewelers, but did not like anything we saw. Finally we went to the regular market in the town centre and bought this beauty for less than 20 pounds stirling. It was meant to be a stand in for the ‘real’ thing, but I am still wearing it 8 months later. I think the stone may actually be plastic, rather than real amber, although we cannot tell for sure. We are a bit worried that it is glued together and may not stand the test of time.

And I love it. I really like the elfish style of the silver work and how unusual it is. My fiance and I are taking a London Holiday this week and next, which is easy as we live in London, and are going to have a look for the ‘real’ one this week. But I am not sure I will find one I like better than this.

I also make art. You can things with my designs on at my shop here. Could even treat yourself if you wanted to. Just saying.