End of Workshops and Showtime!

Hello!!!
Sunday saw the grand finale of the results of the two week long fashion and textile workshops that I have been directing here in Taiwan at the Dream Community. All in all there were about 33 people who participated in making 'wearable lanterns' and the finished pieces looked awesome! People put a load of hard work and energy into their outfits and it was great to work with a bunch of people who were so enthusiastic! The end of the workshops was marked with a catwalk show opened by a samba drum group here in the Dream Community terrace. There was also prizes up for grabs so there was a few shapes thrown on the catwalk as well as stiltwalkers!
Love and Lanterns,
Emma xxx

Made in Taiwan!

Hello from Taiwan!
So since finishing the first set of workshops I've been cracking on with a bit of research and seeing what Taipei is all about which has been sooo much fun! I think I've mastered the public transport system...although all these bus routes are kind of tricky! Anyway...I've been all over the place...from a zillion temples, to an awesome shopping plaza totally dedicated to Japanese fashion, some really cool backstreet shops that sell a whole load of shiny, gold, religious stuff... and eaten allsorts of yummy veggie stuff from taro pizza to potato salad with multi-coloured cake sprinkles on, blue sushi, a billion varieties of tofu, crab apples on a stick and 20p sweet potato ice cream!!! I also went to Danshui which is north of the city and I can only describe it as a mix between Blackpool and Donau-Insel...loads of shops selling inflatable Spongebob Squarepants, toffee apples, boats, a bit of a promenade and a bit of happy hardcore churning out of the numerous games arcades! That was pretty awesome and there was a really weird shop selling sick but hot cat handbags...and then a man got his bike entangled in my bag and killed the pinnacle shopping moment as I wasn't impressed!
Anyway, I took a million pictures...so here are a select few!!!
Love Emma xxx

Notion 50th Issue!!!

Yo Yo Yo from Taiwan....
So after a totally juicy day off spent temple hopping, lantern spying and avoiding weirdos after wandering into a dubious area I was excited when I got back to the studio tonight to see the new, extra special 50th issue of Notion Magazine ready for action on it's online portal! The spectacular Aaron Francis Walker wrote a glorious piece all about my recent 'Colourful Creatures are often Poisonous' collection. It features the images taken as part of my collaboration in Tokyo with photographer Yuji Watanabe during my artist residency at the Mino Paper Art Village Project! Wahhh I love this piece and I'm loving the 50th issue complete with Jessie J on the cover and allsorts of magical content! Thankssss dudes!!!!
In other news I had pre-packed HELLO KITTY jam sandwiches for lunch....best thing EVER!!!
Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing the magazine in all it's printed, glossy glory when I get back to the UK... (my non existent Chinese lingo doesn't branch far enough to find a special magazine shop in Taiwan...) But anyway...go and buy it....or if you can also check out page 20-21 on the online edition HERE!!!
Anyway, I'm off to wash my hair...
Love and Doritos,
Emma xxx

Workshops Akimbo and Branching Out...

Hiya from Taiwan!
So It's been a super intense past couple of weeks since I arrived in Taiwan....There was a whole load of prep work and deadlines prior to the fashion workshops kicking off and now we are working towards the end of the project and the catwalk presentation this coming weekend.
The theme of my workshops was to tie in with the upcoming lantern festival here in Taiwan so everyone is working on 'wearable lanterns'. I'm working with around 10 different groups ranging from a local storytelling collective, to Dream Community staff and residents here at the complex. The attendees have a whole bunch of themes going on including Egyptians, Year of the Rabbit, Alice in Wonderland, Strawberry Season, Recycling and of course Lady Gaga!
I've been putting some mammoth hours in at the studio and I've been riding out being ill for the past week so not too much juicy gossip...but a couple of days ago I got to make my first venture out sightseeing...so here are some pictures from my grand day out... Bit of a whistlestop tour as it was pissing it down with rain and exhaustion was totally kicking in...but I hit up the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, the Ximending area (which was AWESOME!), the mega tall 101 Building...a bunch of temples... Taipei City Hall....tra la la...

So there you have it...that's what has been rolling this past couple of weeks here in Taiwan!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxx