Inspiration

Objects with meaning – do you want to join in?

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 31 Comments

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A few weeks ago I started running a series of posts about ‘objects with meaning’, by which I meant objects that have personal importance to us, so that they may make up part of our emotional story or landscape. You can read that original post hereĀ should you want to know more. You can also have a look at some of the objects here and here.

Anyway, I found that something pretty exciting had happened at the beginning of this week when writer Scar (of blog SCAR) took up the idea behind this post and wrote her own lovely post about her own poignant ‘objects of meaning’. You can read her post here. I was particularly taken with the tale of her Ukulele and of her Happy Wagon. No spoilers – if you want to know more you’ll need to head over there to get the full story. If you like books, or ever have occasion to roam London looking for good places to hang out or eat, her blog is also for you.

So I really like the idea that other bloggers may want to write about their own ‘objects of meaning’ and the stories behind them. I think ideas are best shared. If you would like to join in I would be happy to host guest posts here, or link to posts on other blogs to direct some traffic. I really like the idea that we could together develop a web or map of stories through interesting objects, nearly forgotton pieces of clothing and long cherished toys – it would be exciting to act as a hub for that.

Please grab my attention by posting in the comments below, or you can email me at rose@magpieatmidnight.co.uk if you would prefer that.

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.

Objects with Meaning #4 – All seeing eye

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 2 Comments

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This is a part of a series of photos of objects that have meaning to me. Want to know a little more about the origin of this project? Have a read here.

Fellow magpies, what objects have meaning for you? would love to hear all about them in the comments below.

 

 

Like what you see? 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.

Objects with meaning #3 – Assorted beautiful buttons

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 9 Comments

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This is a part of a series of photos of objects that have meaning to me. Want to know a little more about the origin of this project? Have a read here.

Fellow magpies, what objects have meaning for you? would love to hear all about them in the comments below.

 

 

Like what you see? 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.

Objects with meaning #2 – Moonstone necklace

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 1 Comment

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This is a part of a series of photos of objects that have meaning to me. Want to know a little more about the origin of this project? Have a read here.

Fellow magpies, what objects have meaning for you? would love to hear all about them in the comments below.

 

 

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.

Objects with meaning #1 – China ballet shoes

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 6 Comments

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A few years ago I took a whole heap of photos of objects that had meaning for me. I had a conversation with a guy I was seeing at the time about minimalism and how he had thrown away all his childhood soft toys, which I just found really, really sad for some reason.

I am slightly suspicious of wholesale minimalism. I feel that some objects come with important emotional meaning attached, and they form part of our emotional memory. Our emotional story. What looks like simple clutter to some people, is for other people an anchor to an important moment, good or bad, in their past. I am sure that sometimes getting rid of those anchors can, in it self, be a very psychologically healthy thing to do. But I am not an advocate of throwing things away simply for the sake of being tidy, of creating a clean, minimalist environment. So (in a grand romantic gesture) I made a digital film for the guy.

It totally wasn’t worth it. I mean super duper wasn’t at all worth my effort. But there we go.

Looking at them again now, I think they made a nice little project. I wanted to share them with you, Fellow Magpies. I will post them over the next few weeks and months, and maybe add in a few new ones along the way.

 

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.

That time I nearly got kicked in the face by superman

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 2 Comments

I’ve been at Brighton kite festival today and while there I saw this wonderful thing billowing in the wind.

I absolutely love how the tentacles billow and ripple and curl in the wind. While trying to film this there wasn’t quite enough wind and my face almost came in contact with a really large superman kite that wasn’t quite inflated enough.

I’ve begun working up some ideas for a B-movie style animation involving an octopus like creature comprised of lightnigh, stray electronics and the huge soup of discarded plastic currently drifting around our oceans. It’s a fun, not very well thought out idea at present. Seeing this lovely octopus dancing in the wind has given me some stylistic ideas to consider. 

It has made me think of where inspiration can come from. I think sometimes I have a tendency to want to stay in and work at things, but this is a timely reminder that inspiration can strike at unexpected times, and in unexpected places, if you allow your self to be open to it.

 Like any of the art work featured on this blog? You can now buy my stuff at Threadless, or at Redbubble.

A little bit of news – I opened a threadless shop!

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 3 Comments

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Over the last few months I have been working on ideas which would enable me to earn a bit of side income from my art and interests in creativity. I have been looking at different options and have been particularly inspired by the prolific Sableyes and his Little Fears project.

Having looked through various options I’ve decided to follow his example and dip my toe in the water with a Threadless Artist Shop. I’m a bit excited about this as it feels like I have been able to come to the end of a project with an actual product out there in the ‘real world’. I have picked a small selection of products including high quality prints and a few bags – please go over and have a look if you are inclined to do so.

So, drum roll…. here is the Magpie at Midnight artist shop, where you can buy my stuff.

Working with new materials

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I’ve been working with some new materials recently with I’ve been enjoying. Alongside working with cut paper I have been experimenting with cutting cotton. The problem I had was that cutting cotton was that the edges fray, and I particularly like the strong lines and silhouettes produced by paper cut. 

I have managed to fix this problem! I have been coating the cloth with a PVA style glue (I am using this Modge Podge but I don’t think it matters which brand you pick). Apply with a paint brush and make sure you use a plastic sheet to protect your furniture.  This then needs to dry for a good 24 hours before you can cut with scissors. It’s rather satisfying to peel the cloth from the plastic. One side will be shiny while the other will retain the cloth texture. I’ve been using a paper stencil and pencil on the shiny side to trace out the shape I wanted. Then I can cut using scissors as I do with paper.

I like the effect produced – I think the combination of textures works really well.


A limited collection of prints of my are are now available here at threadless.

It may feel like winter now, but spring is coming

/ The Magpie at Midnight / 1 Comment

I was going to post this kind of thing over the weekend but am pretty tired right now and felt that, given recent events, taking a bit more time to think about things was appropriate. It’s autumn in the UK. I really love autumn and I really love spring in the UK. I feel at my most creative in these seasons that bring about profound changes in our environment. 

At the weekend I was with family in the Cotswolds and had some time to get out with the boyfriend into the woods. I really love being in the woods, tramping about in fallen leaves and taking in big lungfulls of air freshly oxygenated by the busy trees. Kissing over kissing gates. It’s relatively well established now that spending time in green spaces is good for us. It can lower blood pressure and improve our sense of wellbeing.

There is a deep wisdom to be found in the woods. You can see this in the vibrant last flare of autumn, the bedding down of leaf mulch and slow winter decay. The rotting leaves release nutrients back into the soil, preparing the ground for the furious blooming of spring to follow. You can also see it in the busy, vibrant and glorious displays if diversity. In this, I believe nature shows us the way.

I’ve been thinking about these cycles of decay and of renewal. It may feel at the moment for many that we are sinking into a state of spirutal, moral and intellectual decay. This is a moment we should pay attention to. It’s time to bed down and prepare the ground for the spring that may come. It’s a time to decide what kind of ideas, what kind of people and movements, what kind of blooms, in all their splendid diversity, we will nature into growth in the coming spring. It’s time to make plans about how we can give those blooms our fullest support. It may feel very much like winter now, but spring is coming.