I'm not dead…

…I just don’t really have time for my blog any more. Nor anything much that is post-worthy!

I’m still writing for the Art of Punk series on Colin’s Punk Rock World (a post about logo designs was published today). I also write reviews sometimes, such as the lengthy gig review for Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls at Alexandra Palace that was posted last week.

In more visually creative news, I linoprint-ed some Christmas cards the other weekend. You may or may not remember my designs from last year – check them out here too. I think I like this year’s little reindeer more than last year’s design.

Christmas Cards 2014

As you may have realised from my previous blog post, I have been crafting my own Christmas cards this year – although, to be honest, I do most years. But this year I have done something a little different. I made my cards by carving a small Christmas tree design (a bit smaller than A6) into a piece of lino and printing onto various papers in black ink. So the paper shows through where the design is rather than the blank ink.

Red paper, brown paper, Japanese newspaper

Shiny gold paper, crinkly white paper

I have only written 4 so far, this is the rest…

These cards were inspired by the linocutting workshop I took part in at work, back in November (see the blog post here!). I even re-printed my wintery tree design, that I created at that workshop, to have a more limited edition and larger (A5) card. Not that these cards are actually for sale at all anyway.

Red and gold

This isn’t the only Christmas card I’ve worked on this year. I also contributed to the emc design ‘12 days of Christmas’ card – read the emc blog here – with nine ladies dancing. Although this was digitally created, not handmade.

Sunday Crafternoon

It’s been a busy weekend for me. Starting Friday, I had a day off work and spent it Christmas shopping, with mama-Prew in Milton Keynes, and then shot off to London to watch Once the Musical, with Becca and Lana. The shopping was very successful and the musical was truly wonderful. Saturday I didn’t do so much but I stuck around in MK and decorated the parents’ Christmas tree among other things.

Today I returned home to Bedford for my weekly pilates class, then spent the afternoon happily out of the cold and busily doing some arts and crafts.

First on my crafting agenda was the WTFest/Menzingers poster-setlist-ticket-wristband combo collage I’ve been meaning to work on since October. Well, I think it was well worth the wait.

I added some ‘polaroids’ of my photos from WTFest weekend, as well.

The next craft is more of a work in progress. I plan to have linocut printed Christmas cards this year and these were my very first attempt. I was intending on this particular lino design being only a tester but I liked my first print so much that I went ahead and produced many more. It won’t be the last linocutting/printing I do this side of Christmas, but I have to wait for all of these mini prints to dry before I do any more! 

And finally, the third ‘craft’ is a bit of a cheat as I simply paper-mâchéd gold tissue paper onto a cardboard reindeer that I bought in Hobby Craft yesterday – on a whim. 

Also worth mentioning: as well as my WTFest collage, I now have these Japanese prints up in my room. The two larger prints I was given by my parents when I moved and the smaller four are postcards that I picked up in Tokyo. All are replicas of ukiyo-e by Hiroshige, my favourite artist.

And it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Both in my flat.

And at the parental home.

New toy

I got a new camera ready for my Japanese adventure next year. So far I’ve barely worked out how to use any of its features but I have taken a few initial photos…

There is normally a path across here…

Bit fuzzy, but just testing the super zoom.

Santa classics

“Santa Classics is a new series of images created by artist, photographer and Santa devotee, Ed Wheeler. Wheeler imagines Santa entering into the great masterworks of art, with humor and reverence for the originals.” – Santa Classics

Sinister Santas

The weekend before last I met up with some of my Falmouth friends for a little pre-Christmas/end of the year get together. We did the typical Christmas time things of eating gingerbread, drinking mulled wine and watching a Christmas film (as well as Pitch Perfect, but that’s irrelevant). However, it wasn’t your typical cheery and merry, child-friendly Christmas film…

“In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up! This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.” – Rare Exports

Rare Exports is a Finnish [subtitled] film set in Lapland, on the border of Russia – a place as dark and cold as the humour in the film. It made for a far more interesting film than most festive rubbish.

The Santa in the film is a ‘Joulupukki’ or Yule Goat – which might not sound so scary but legends tell of a devil-like creature who terrified children.

“Joulupukki was once a symbol of fertility and more of a frightening figure back then than today. He was clad in thick fur-lined coat turned inside out, wearing a mask and a pair of horns on his head.” – dlc.fi

But Finland isn’t the only country with a more sinister kind of Santa, in fact many countries around the world have their own variations. I read a great little article at the weekend, courtesy of Scroobius Pip on Twitter (as in, he led me to it – he didn’t actually write it).

“Earlier this year I set out to research the history of Father Christmas. I was fascinated by this mythical housebreaker who rewards the good and punishes the naughty. Santa struck me as being an older, gentler Robin Hood and I wanted to discover how and why the fabled gift-giving of St Nicholas had transformed into this magical character with a home at the North Pole and a workshop of elves.

What I discovered instead were stories of strange and terrifying creatures that wandered the winters of medieval Europe. Before Santa, and before Christmas firmly took hold in Europe, the middle of winter was seen as a harsh, sinister time filled with deadly and demonic monsters.” – Paul Hawkins, Naughty or Nice?

On Paul Hawkins’ blog he has been posting a different Bad Santa article everyday as part of an advent calendar, which accompanies the book – Bad Santas: and Other Creepy Christmas Characters. The first two of the illustrations below are featured in the advent calendar (and book) and link to those posts. The others I’ve found elsewhere on the Internet.

The Greek Kallikantzaroi (illustration by Mel Four)

The Dutch Sinterklaas (illustration, again, by Mel Four)

The German (and Austrian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Croatian… etc.) Krampus

The Icelandic Yule Lads

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Prew and Cleo

Lovely snowy background from here.

Let's talk turkey

I feel sick and I haven’t eaten turkey for about 13 years (maybe more?).

Let’s talk turkey

“Around ten million turkeys will be eaten in the UK this Christmas – 90 percent of them factory-farmed. Salford design agency Raw has launched a colourful yet shocking animated campaign explaining the controversial process, and hopes it will convince some consumers to opt for meat-free or free range alternatives…” – Creative Review

A Google Christmas

Google always has the best illustrations and mini games and Christmas is no exception. Not only do they have a fully functioning Santa Tracker – as I write this Mr Claus is currently delivering presents in New Zealand – but also some great Christmassy games. My favourite is the Present Drop.