Institute of Kentish Town archiving and art event Dec 14-18 2010

I participated in an archiving/art event in Queen's Cresent last night. Most of my 5 years of found objects, hitherto stored in a large sweet jar, are beautifully displayed, a la Tony Cragg, on the gallery walls. I brought along some of my junk and other arty books and gave a little talk. Claire, Sophie and Jo, the curators, did a marvelous job. They also put up huge interactive mapping exercises to mark your comments, stories and drawings of your fav place in Kentish Town. There is also lovely works by resident artists Nic Harper, Jocelyn Allen, Milka Panayotova and Rodrigue Dakouri. Tonight they will host a special quiz night. More to follow in the week, with a closing party on Saturday night. Join in if you're around!

New Xmas cards

Thought I'd put up my new cards for Xmas this year. I just used materials I had in a drawer. I had already made some new mail art cards using the sewing machine, so I just carried on in that form for my cards. I think their kinda sweet. Quite different to what I normally produce.



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THE MOMENT OF PRIVACY HAS PASSED

My sketchbook has been included in this exhibition in Lincoln.

HOLD ME! TOUCH ME! FEEL ME!

Visitors to the Usher Gallery in Lincoln will be able to select, take off the shelf and browse through over 200 sketchbooks on loan from contemporary artists, architects, designers and makers. These sketchbooks are included in the Library zone of ‘The Moment of Privacy Has Passed’ an innovative and engaging exhibition of sketchbooks curated by John Plowman. The exhibition focuses on the ways in which we can engage with the sketchbook in a gallery context.


Divided into four zones the exhibition incorporates the conventional modes of display of the Cabinet and Wall, the cutting edge of the Digital and the innovative Library. Each of these zones will offer visitors to the exhibition a different experience of engagement with the sketchbook. The sketchbook can be viewed as private and personal, a creative space in which thoughts and ideas are noted in a variety of ways by, amongst others, artists, architects, designers. Making these private and selfreferential sketchbooks visible within a gallery context will offer up new insights and perspectives on this hitherto invisible aspect of the creative process.


The Cabinet, Wall and digital zones will feature sketchbooks from contemporary artists including Grayson Perry and Simon Faithfull as well as historic sketchbooks from the Usher Gallery’s collections.


THE MOMENT OF PRIVACY HAS PASSED
Sketchbooks by Contemporary Artists, Architects and Designers  

The Usher Gallery, Lincoln
11 December 2010 – 06 March 2011
Private View Friday 10 December 2010 6 – 8 pm

Family day in London Fields with Erik Rutterford playing

Art Junky at Phoenix Brighton this Sunday 21st Nov

If you're in the East Sussex area this Sunday, 21st Nov, 11am-5pm, why not pop in to Art Junky at the Phoenix Brighton galleries for some early Festive Season gift shopping! My chaps will be hosting my  leslieworks micro boutique for me (I have to do Handmade & Bound in London) selling my handmade art & crafts, and my cherry-picked vintage collectibles.

Check out my new unique vintage tie eyeglass and memory card cases.

I've also got new, funky vintage items, including milk glass vases, brought back fresh from the USA. Hope you can come!

Art Junky is

"A jam-packed eclectic indoor market showcasing local artists, crafts, collectibles, music and more! The Art Junky Cafe and Bar will be serving homemade goodies and winter warmers, plus our great live DJ's and facepainting! £1 entry, kids under 10 go FREE!" 

You can see it on their facebook page or view it on their website.

Craft and Vintage at the Garston Manor Winter Fair

  If you're in the Watford area this Sat, Nov 13th come in to this newly refurbished Manor House Winter Fair being featured as part of a Country House Rescue tv program. Lots of early Festive Season handmade and vintage goodies to buy, for yourself or as gifts! 
  "The Fair is going to be the perfect place to shop for Christmas in a relaxed stress-free environment. Our intention is to support local business people, local makers and artists as well as to raise money for a variety of charities." -Delapole Events
 I'll be selling my crafty cushions and applique wall decor hoops, small artist multiples and trinkets, some great new vintage items brought home from the USA recently, like milk glass vases, a 30's picnic tin and a 60's illustrated roll-back breadbin. I will also be selling some fab accessories and vintage jewelry.
  There will be a lot of food on offer during the event from sausages and steak sandwiches to crepes and cakes via salads and sweeties! There will also be mulled wine and local beers. There is a small relaxation room available throughout the day where Indian Head massages and reflexology will be on offer for a small fee. An ideal way to break up a day perhaps?

Hope to see you there!

Stuffed Shirts and other cushions

I'm always on the look out for new ways to reuse, recycle, upcycle, repurpose, whatever you want to call it stuff I find at charity shops and jumble sales. I particularly like fabric and other textiles, as well as small receptacles. I recently got inspired to make cushion covers from men's shirts, entitling the series 'Stuffed Shirts', as city gents are sometimes that, and the cushions are also stuffed shirts in a way!
I think they nicely compliment my more intricate collage applique cushion covers.

I'm a member now of the International Union of Mail Artists

Visit International Union of Mail-Artists

Smile Quotes slideshow

Quotes used in 'Medicine For Daily Life', a pillbox work with 28 smiles and smile quotes for each day, and an off-shoot concertina book called, 'A Smile Begets a Smile'. It contains a series of photos taken at the 'Smile' exhibition at the Red Gate Gallery in Brixton last March 2010 of people who looked at my piece and their smile. It is an interactive slideshow. Run your mouse over the panels to move and read them.

Handmade vs. Homemade

I replied to a question put by scoutie girl, one of the design blogs I follow and thought I'd share it here, too:
‘Handmade’ and ‘homemade’ are both important aspects to arts and crafts. They simply differentiate from ‘machine made’. Looking more closely, as Holly pointed out, handmade can still indicate an assembly line, or large-scale produced item, made by someone who has no real love or connection to the products and could also be exploited for their labour. ‘Homemade’ comes closest to describing something made with a connection to the craft and hopefully a love and/ or passion for creating it. ‘Homemade’ could still include the use of modern technology or machinery, or even extra hands, but there is an intimacy assumed with production. ‘Homemade also has a provincial, or old-fashioned feel about it, like ‘homemade jam’. ‘Homemade and handmade’ ultimately convey the time, skill, craft, and love that can go into creating something either traditional or contemporary, useful or decorative, affordable or luxurious! I think it’s nice to know that something is actually handmade by the one person selling their wares. For my work I refer to projects with a lot of hand work involved ‘handmade’, and for pieces that are more repurposing, or computer and printer generated, I describe the work as ‘homemade’. Some pieces get both!

Chilling out after Handmade & Bound yesterday

Had a superbly sunny seasidey day at the Handmade and Bound Fair in Whitstable. I introduced 2 new pieces of work: 'A Smile Begets a Smile' book and my 'Before and After' compacts. Also had a neat text only slide presentation displayed, with 36 different smile quotes rolling over continuously. Sales not bad, people excellent. Made new friends, new contacts. Sat on the seafront, saw the sun go down from the comfort of a rickety wooden pub table, with friends, my best boys and a bottle of wine! 

Handmade & Bound goes to the seaside!

If you're planning a jaunt to the north coast in Kent, please check this out. I'll be selling my paper crafts and book arts and also trying to make a celebratory nod to USA homeland 4th of July!

http://www.leslieworks.co.uk/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/leslieworks

New Facebook page to combine all my different artistic activities

Take a look at my new Facebook page

Art/Craft/Design and Vintage

A micro concept boutique with various ethernet and real outlets. Everything from one-off artworks, to interior soft furnishings, artists books and multiples to mid-century modernist pottery. Handcrafted and cherry-picked.

New Items on Etsy

I'm finally adding some new stuff on my etsy site, as the same 24 hoops have been sitting there being looked at alot, but not bought! I have so many different kinds of items, so it's hard to know what to add, so I'm sticking with soft furnishings and classy small paper and book pieces for now. I will get some vintage up there at some point! Please feel free to take a look, and if you see something you like give me a heart! Of course you may also purchase something, too! I'll be reducing the postage on earlier items as I don't think they need to be sent recorded delivery. So, take that into account if considering a purchase. Thanks for looking! All the best, Leslie x

My new etsy shop

I have finally opened up an etsy shop to show and sell my craftier pieces. I've loaded it with fabric applique hoops, using vintage and contemporary fabrics.

I hope they look stylish, but fun; artistic, but accessible. Take a look, and if you mention my blog, you can have a %10 discount on your first purchase! Look out for new and different items in the future. Thanks for stopping by...Leslie x

100 Journals Project, Alturnative, Kent

I came across this call out very late in the day, but managed to send a submission along. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to the event. I gather it was a tricky compilation to put together with Journals spread far and wide over the country. As some people didn't even get their designated journal, loose works were requested, that could be inserted into the journals on site. I'm glad to finally see some photos of the event, which you can see here  http://alturnertive.com/100JournalsProject.aspx

My submissions came from a concept I'd had on the back burner for some time. I've always been aghast at the super skinny model phenomenon (though I was a great fan of Twiggy in her time). I think it's gotten worse since then. I liked to compare them to stick insects, and thought it might be interesting to depict them as such. I noticed the latin name for the bugs was phantasmagoria, and when digging deeper into the meanings found I could conjure up a kind of poetic, but disturbing portrayal, through words and images, of the cult of fashion and skinniness. The following are the pieces I sent:

I will be exhibiting at Smile, a group exhibition at the Red Gate Gallery, London. My piece is the feature work!

Smile: an exhibition that brings back laughter

Exhibition Date 29.03.2010 | Author: Yara Tschallener | For More Information Call +44 (0)207 326 0993

Featuring works by:

Amy Russell ● Anna Siemaszko ● Ian Tatton ● Joe Townend & Toby Owen ● Juan Blanco ● Leslie Wilson-Rutterford ● Maia Schweizer ● Paul Vincett ● Roxane Grant ● Sibylla McGrigor ● Soheila Keyani ● Soraia Almeida ● Susie Lowe ● Wiracha Daochai ● Zannah Cooper ●Hanae Utamura

Private View: Friday 2nd of April 2010 - 6 pm to 1am 

(after Party with live music/DJ)

Red Gate Gallery, 209a Coldharbour Lane, London. SW9 8RU. UK

Exhibition runs from: Monday 29th of March – Thursday 8th of April 2010

Gallery Opening Hours: Mon - Fri: 11am to 6.30 pm - Sat: 12.30 pm - 5.00 pm

Last day of Exhibition: Thursday 22nd of April: 11.00 am to 5.00 pm

The exhibition ‘Smile’ aims to act as a cultural antidote to the recent global depression, natural disasters and a general mood of despondency. Smiling is a universal act, yet there have not been many reasons to do so lately. In the greater scheme of things one often forgets the little moments in life that make us smile and thus happy.

‘Smile’ is a collaborative group show displaying works in various media including acrylic, oil, photography, new media and installation.This forthcoming exhibition aims to challenge people to step out of their busy consumer driven life styles to take a split second to ’stop and stare’ and to hold the moment and smile: here the true sense of smiling is in store not the ‘fake’ one so often dished out without meaning.

The art work shown portrays subtlety rather than shock value seen in recent mainstream exhibitions, the latter tending to alienate, rather than involve, the viewer.

Each artist participating in this show has their own way to express happiness and this exhibition demonstrates that no matter where one comes from, one can always find a reason to smile. With a feeling of anticipation, we hope that who ever visits ‘Smile’ will walk out with a smile, perpetuating a ‘feel good factor’; well, at least for a brief moment….