Shutting Up Shop

Recently I bought a book called 'Shutting Up Shop; The decline of the tradtional small shop' by John Londei.



John Londei took pictures of sixty small shops around Britain from Brush shops to Condom shops over the duration of fifteen years. Each shop is unique, one of a kind.

He took all the pictures with of either the front or interior of the shop with the owner/s infront, all taken with a 10x8 plate camera.
Londei then interviews each of the owners to find out what it is like to own the shop, it's history, financial situation or any personal details about working there. Many of the businesses had been around for years, one shop owner talks about his experience of selling cork for sixty years!

Fifteen years later John Londei returned to each shop in turn, taking a second photograph of the shop. At the back of the book you can see the before and after photographs and information. Most businesses have dissapeared with only a small minority that have survived. A sad tale!

The shops all look amazing; many crammed full and have shop fronts with beautiful hand signage. The workers seem geniunely intersted in what they are selling and have some sort of history in a particular area. That is what is special about small businesses.

This book will have a strong influence on this current project 'Identity and Promotion'. With my own family owning a small hardware shop in York, I want to promote and encourage people to use their local shops to keep small businesses alive.

Astrid Chesney

I love the work of Astrid Chesney, her work reminds me a little of Laura Carlin's watercolours. Astrid's work is mytserious and playful. She has a sensitive touch!

Like Laura, Astid is a Royal College of Art graduate, before studying at University of Brighton.
Astrid now lives and works in London where her work draws on the everyday, people and places.



Astrid works for a number of clients such as the New York Times, Random House, John Murray Publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, Oberon Books, the Independent and the Guardian.

Mark Hearld

One artist's work I Iike very much is Mark Hearld (my boyfriend). He is very versatile and works in many mediums, such as ceramic decoration, collage, lithography, silk screens, lino cuts, goache painting, box works and 3D. More recently he has been exploring oil painting.

He studied Illustration at Glasgow School of Art and then went on to study Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art, London. He is passioante about nature and all of his image contain an animal or plant form of some sort. I am always amazed that he doesn't tire of drawing animals but he would draw a pigeon in the same enthused way as the time before!

I really like Mark's energy and personality that comes across in his images. I like the way he designs his images but at the same time they remain passionate and expressive. I also like the fact he is willing to try new ideas and mediums. For example I really liked his 3D work such as his box works and animal cut out sculptures. The box works had a strong narrative to them which I enjoy.

I which we could of kept this cat!



He has currently done a textile design for St Judes, 'Dove Flight' which is beautiful. St Judes also have a gallery with Mark's work in it. Visit http://www.st-judes.co.uk



Look at these inpsiring prints!








He has an exhibition with the talented Emily Sutton coming up very shortly at Godfrey and Watt, Harrogate on 20th Oct- 17th Nov.

Victorian Postcards

I have now started a collection of Victorian postcards, since being in Berlin this has been surprisingly a good place to collect these. Five for one euro at the flea market at Tiergarten but you have to root around a bit! I have found some great images which have formed the basis of drawings.

I also discovered a book called "Fantasy Postcards" byWilliam Ouellette with a foreword by Babara Jones. This is a great book!
(I will put some images on of this shortly)

David Hockney

David Hockney's early work from Royal College of Art and Hockney's designs for stage sets is amongst his best work. For example the series of etchings on "Rake's Progress".










There is a fantastic book called "Hockney paints the stage". He seems so creative and has a really unusual way of mark making and mixing 2D and 3D to create a very peculiar perspective.

Picasso Etchings

Picasso is amazing in whatever he did however I especially love his etchings. I recently went to the Begruen Museum in Berlin and saw lots of his etchings there.

Theodore Shrank

I have just found these images by photographer Theodore Shrank called "Experimental Theatre Photos". Really unusual....