Dundee to Edinburgh

Earlier on in the week I popped through to Edinburgh to The Spider and The Fly (65 Bread Street). The Spider and The Fly is brought to you by Magpie- a venture to bring art, craft and design talent together. I was really pleased to have my work accepted to go on sale here- its a gorgeous shop stocking a great range including prints, artwork, handmade jewellery, gifts, clothing and accessories. There are also a variety of events taking place here- the next being an exhibition of drawing and sculpture held by Nikki McWilliams - a tribute to the humble teacake on the 7th of September.

The images below show some of the goodies available for sale in The Spider and The Fly.


A little reminder too, that its less than a week to go until n_ilk at the botanics and Dundee Jamboree. It takes place in the Botanic Gardens in Dundee on Saturday the 11th of September, 3.30- 10.30. Tickets are priced £6.


Also for anyone who doesn't know yet, I've set up a little group on facebook for artists and makers in the Fife/Tayside area (and anyone else who's interested) to share events and exhibitions that are going on.

I thought I'd set up the group after a conversation with Lora from Little Badger at last weekends Tea on the Lawn, which was a great event- (I'm good at telling you about events coming up but not always so good at letting you know how they went) I met loads of lovely people and sold some new work. Anyway, back to the conversation- Lora asked how I found out about the event and other events going on in the area- I realised its all pretty much word of mouth (I have Mary-Jane from Kitschnbake to thank for finding out about Tea on the Lawn). I thought it would be good to have a group on facebook where we could post events that are coming up and share whats going on. So far I'm the only one to have posted but I'm hoping it will take off- there are a few members now. If you do join please pop into the discussions section, say hello and leave some links so we can all find each other.

MoonMade Pop Up Shop

MoonMade is a pop up shop which is appearing around Dundee from June to October. It is located within the Hannah Maclure Centre at the moment but its location will vary over the coming months- sometimes taking over a vacant shop for as little as a weekend.


MoonMade supports and promotes local artists and makers by selling their goods while at the same time raising money and awareness of the charity Youth- Link Dundee. Youth-Link Dundee work with children who are at risk of becoming socially isolated, ages ranging from 5 - 18. Children are supported through group work or through one to one befriending. I have been a befriender myself since March this year- not with Youth-Link but with Families First in St Andrews so know a bit about this role and how important it is. I love the idea behind MoonMade in that its supporting a great cause as well as local crafts people- even the owners of the empty shops benefit by having their property showcased- so if you're in Dundee pop in!


You can see some of the artwork I have for sale in the second photo- the two framed pictures on the third shelf. Emily Moir has also put six of my smaller artworks on the wall which was lovely to see- click on Emily to see her work and find out more.

Folksy Friday- Shop local

This week I thought I would base my Folksy Friday on a shop local theme. Local for me now is St Andrews/East Fife/Dundee area. I think all of the shops I have included are based around these areas. For the group I really just picked a few of the things I quite fancy myself.

(just a little update since I posted this Folksy Friday, if you are interested in the zine in Lauren Gentrys shop please go through Nikki McWilliams (click the digestive). I never noticed at the time but Gentry Illustrations is on holiday mode, whoops.

Dundee Degree Show 2010

Every year I try to make sure I go along to a degree show. Its great to see new, fresh work and it takes me back to the good old days. This year I went to the degree show at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, a change for me I must admit as usually it's Edinburgh College of Art (although I think the Edinburgh show is in June so maybe I'll see that too this year). I only moved to St Andrews last October so Dundee is nice and close to me. Ive only been to the degree show at Heriot Watt once since I graduated- I loved seeing the work but I didn't like bumping into old lecturers and them asking what I was up to. I was a visual merchandising manager at the time, not really what I had hoped for (not awful- but not my 'dream' job) God knows what I'd tell them now. There were some very successful people who came out of my class at uni who are doing very well for themselves (my eyes aren't that green honest, I know they have all worked hard to get to where they are now).

So get back on track- some of the departments I saw today that I was most impressed with were animation (especially a film called 'The Welder' by Stuart Turnbull and Robert Connor), Fine Art (Colin Wilson 'So on and so Forth' was one of my favourites here) and textiles of course. I loved the quirky style of Diane Allan in Textile Design and the beautiful tea cup images she produced through drawing, collage and screen printing. You can see some of her work below or go to dianeallan.co.uk for more.



In the illustration department I found lots of yummy prints for sale, so I treated myself. I'm not normally a big rabbit fan but I really liked this one 'Lapin in trees' by Barbara Beek.