Afro Supa Hero

There weren't many positive images of people of colour for me to look up to as a young black girl growing up in Birmingham during the 1960's and 1970's. So I totally understand where Jon Daniels Is coming from in his personal exhibition 'Afro Supa Hero' now showing at Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood until February 2014. A journey from childhood to adulthood.



I felt like a 10 year old me as I walked around - Ah man! Remember the Harlem Globetrotters they were so cool! The Jackdon 5? - wow!, their moves and outfits were so bostin (brum speak for fantastic). Uhuru! I wanted to be her! Imagine! a beautiful black woman, playing a main character in a TV programme.....








The exhibition has so many main players in the black real world and in the fictional world represented in action figures/ comics/games/ posters. From the political world we see Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther king and Malcolm X, from Hollywood Billy Dee Williams (Star Wars), Storm (X-men), from television Mr T, Huggy Bear and Dobey from Starsky & Hutch, the fabulous Lieutenant Uhuru to name but a few.



Music and art are represented too with figures of Music producer Lee Scratch and artist John Basquiat also this poster of P-Funk .....



As I was feeling like a child, I couldn't resist poking my head through the Supa Hero figure stand. A fellow museum goer kindly took my photo ( he actually took about 20 because he held his finger on the button he he!) I need a super hero name how about Supa Sister? Sounds too much like an over enthusiastic nun! Or .....Or with my hair now half grey half black I think I'll call myself salt n pepper or the badger. My super power? Would be to turn wrong doers into soft toy characters - ha ha!



I'll be popping back soon to have another look at the show and check out the other exhibitions, my studio is very near to the museum.....

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Check It Out!

I love wool tweed fabrics and thought it would be quite funny to sew some cats and kittens out of houndstooth fabric!

I bought this oversized houndstooth check in Soho which I think 

works quite well next to the traditional sized pattern that we are used to.

I'm hoping to find a medium sized houndstooth check soon so that I can add a different sized pattern to the the family above.

Summer Review

There's a change in the air, it is cooler now and I've got my winter clothes out from under the bed! As I witness the seasonal changes, I realise that I didn't tell you about some of the things we saw over the summer  so here goes .... 

On one of the many record breaking 'hottest days' we had a family outing to Oxford to see the Stradivarius exhibition at The Ashmolean Museum. Gathered together there were 21 instruments of the master violin maker Antonio Stradivari. For me the most interesting part of the exhibition was seeing the recreation of his workshop, in which his original tools and patterns were displayed. There was also a film that showed the violin making process - it's always a pleasure to see someone crafting an object! One thing that amazed me though was that there was no music played throughout the display! Surely along with these beautifully crafted and adored instruments one should able to hear the sound that can be produced from them? No, it wasn't to be, well not when we were there. I think there were two recitals during the run of the exhibition separate to the show. Maybe there was music on the audio guides that museums are so keen on these days, I'm not a fan of these devices, I prefer to experience a show personally, gathering information by reading curators notes, talking to the staff and coming to my own conclusions. Better still if someone is with me when it's also nice to discuss the exhibition and hear others' reactions.

Oh! If only I could have heard you playing!

In June we went to Kingston University's Graphic Design Degree show, there is never a shortage of original and interesting ways of communicating to behold at this event, take for instance this fabulous eye catching suit by Tom Biddulph...

On the textiles scene it was very exciting to go to 'Prick Your Finger' to see  'Chicken Strikken' an exhibition by activist knitter Lisa Anne Auerbach. Read about it here......

Rachael, owner of Prick Your Finger and supremo knitter!

We also immersed ourselves in Punch Drunk's and The National Theatre's production of The Drowned Man  housed in a gigantic old abandoned sorting office in Paddington.. For me this was a totally new experience. I had only ever been to traditional plays and performances so was a little bit nervous about being in an audience where - 'you will be masked for the duration of the performance, need to wear comfortable footwear, will be separated from your group, and where there will be areas of darkness and confined space', and all for three hours! All I can say is that it was a fascinating experience made even more surreal by wearing a mask and by being told not to say a word to anyone. I really enjoyed watching the performers move and dance, it was quite beautiful at times. It was like being inside a television moving around the characters, walking around the sets.....you were in your own dream, culminating in the final stage where you and the other 200 or so members of 'the audience' gather together to see the final throes of the actors. I would love to go back, because when you finally get to speak about what happened with your friends you realise that everyones experience was different and that there were whole scenes and rooms that you did not see..... 

What! I didn't see you lady, where was that?

At the movies we saw Elysium (a little bit silly!), Alpha Papa (a giggle), Museum Notes ( a moving study of two people in an unusual situation)and The Great Gatsby (fantastic costumes).

Kitten Call

Every now and then I get to find out where my little creations end up. Thank you Lucy G for sending me this photo of her new acquisition 'Pea Beep' bought from Elphicks last month.

Crazy Raving

My pile of crazy patchwork blocks is steadily growing, 45 so far......I'm aiming to make 100! The second photo shows the reverse of a block, I quite like the pattern that the stitching makes as I pootle along, crazy on the back as well as the front! 

4 Squared

Here's a selection of crazy patchwork squares that I have been working on this week.

All Present and Correct!

All stuffed and rearing to go!

Fun Bear Three

Three more bears in the world, just waiting to be stuffed.

Crazy For You

I'm so looking forward to getting back to the studio and working on new projects. This summer I've been busy doing family stuff -visits, holidays and some decorating too, also helping out The Other Half with his work. All the while I've been thinking about my sewing and picking up old jeans from charity shops and car boot sales, notably Brookland car boot sale, Romney Marsh in Kent. Now I have that end of the school holidays feeling, but without the dread of going back to school ( hooray our kids have grown up and I no longer teach!) instead I am very excited about what the next few months will bring. The first thing I'm going to work on is crazy patchwork, I made a few samples when I had the chance to sneak into the studio, one in the photo above. I'll keep you posted!


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Lornaryan.com!

Here it is at last, my very own website! You'll be able to access the blog, Etsy shop and see my gallery of work which I'll be updating on a regular basis. I hope you like it!

Denim Logcabin Patchwork

As you know I like making patchwork. One of my favourite designs is the logcabin design which has been used for hundreds of years in different formats, apparently log cabin patterns are to be found on the tiled floors of some ancient Egyptian buildings. 

I build up the patchwork by working square 'blocks' that are joined together. Above the strips of light and dark denim are randomly placed. Not happy with the design, I made alternate light and dark blocks below.

This arrangement didn't make me happy either!

So I next divided each block into light and dark.

This was better, but wasn't symmetrical enough to my eye, so I worked out where I'd gone wrong and finally found the right block formation to create the design below.....

I used a flat fell seam on my overlocker to sew the strips together, once a seam is stitched you gently pull the fabric strips apart and magically the seam flattens out on both sides of the fabric. This is very exciting for me, because it means that I do not have to back this type of work, great news for anyone who has slept under one of my very heavyweight quilts! 

Right side of patchwork.

 A

Reverse side of patchwork.

Up Pompeii! (and Herculaneum)

We were very fortunate to attend a special evening hosted by the fabulous folk of Brunswick at The British Museum. On show until September is an exhibition called 'Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum' It is a fascinating insight into life of Roman society, captured at the time of the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. 

I've been to The British Museum a few times and I must say that I have found visiting big shows there a bit of a trial because of the crowds. But this visit was very different, on our arrival we were warmly welcomed by the lovely Frank, a charming gentleman who is the king of hospitality. On learning our excitement of seeing the exhibition, Frank like a magician disappeared for a few moments, on his return he quietly announced that we could go into the exhibition before the other guests! 

Well, I know how the Queen must feel when she gets first dibs at The Chelsea Flower Show or gets her own evening at Harrods! The experience was amazing, not only were we the first visitors, we were also able to call on the knowledge of the volunteers placed around the exhibition. These guys brimming with information were somehow able to judge when we were ready to ask a question or when we looked puzzled or inquisitive, making the experience even more enjoyable.

As I walked around the exhibition a song kept popping into my head against all my attempts to push it out. The tune 'Up Pompeii' was the theme tune from a comedy full of double entendres, innuendos and risque gags. Created in the 1970's Frankie Howerd plays the starring role of a slave named Lurcio living in pre-eruption Pompeii. 

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper

I-unpicked-some-denim-jean-waistbands-with-my-nifty-little-quick-un-pick.

Yes, I know the words do not all begin with the same letter! But hey, I enjoyed stringing them together! Sorry Miss Squires (My secondary school English teacher).

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Up North and Down South

A few weeks ago we visited the Yorkshire Sculpture Park,  We usually visit James Turrell's 'Deer Shelter' first, you can see the exterior of the building hiding between the trees in the photograph here.

And below, is the entrance. 

 Once inside you are drawn into the inner chamber

 It's a very quiet and peaceful space. 

Look up, in the ceiling is a window to the sky...

beautiful and mesmerising.

The artist Yinka Shonibare MBE has work on show throughout the YSP both outdoors and in the indoor spaces and galleries, a huge body of work covering the complex world of race, culture and the worlds where they meet. As often is the case photography was not allowed. I took a photo of the above piece though, a very deceptive piece of 'African' cloth  which is actually made of fibre glass!

The day we were at the YSP was also the press day for the opening of 'Seizure' an exhibition of a building housed within its own building. We donned on our plastic booties and went into the transformed apartment made surreal by way of copper sulphate. Thousands of crystals coat every surface, begging to be touched!

. . . . . . . . . . . 

 The next day we travelled to Kent to see an exhibition of drawings by the sculptor Barbara Hepworth. She and her husband Ben Nicholson became friends with the surgeon who operated on one of their triplets. The surgeon who was also creative invited Barbara back to sit in during operations.

The drawings are a fascinating record of her time spent in the operating theatre. Her mark making helps us to see the concentration needed during procedures, the eyes and the hands of the medical staff being the focus of each picture.

Flower Power

Here is one of my latest bears, cut out from a child's pair of trousers that I bought from a charity shop.

I really liked the cute back pocket, so instead of consigning it to the ever growing pile of unpicked pockets, I stitched it onto the front of the new bear.

I think I'll call her/him Flower.

Gotta Pick A Pocket Or Two!

I thought I'd tack together this small collection of change pockets, not sure what I'll do with them next though!