Growth Lily Kindergarten...

Good Afternoon from Taiwan!!!
Just a quick update of what I've been up to this past week! The past few days I've been working on a community based project with the children at a local kindergarten called 'Growth Lily'.
It was a whole new ball game for me! We made some masks and got pom poms and sparkles, tinsel and feathers all over! Here's a few photos of the school and what we were doing!!!


This afternoon I attempted to get all rustic and walk the scenic route back to the studio instead of getting a ride.... This started off ok and I minced through a load of trees down a hill and past a lake...then I got freaked out by the nature when I heard crinkling in the bushes and worried that a snake would come creeping out...so I pegged it through the "wilderness" (more like a road with a few trees and stuff)....

Love
Emma xxx

Pizza Night and Invisible Cats!

Good Evening from Taipei!
It's actually been warm and sunny for once...tropical all round!!!
This past week has seen the start of a new series of workshops I'm doing in collaboration with a local school....been designing some outfits for the Samba band and working with a group of the parents to make 22 costumes!
I spent yesterday in the city with a couple of the girls I've met here, Alpchris and Danielle! We went to check out the art shops in Guting which sold sooo many gourmet materials before heading to Huashan 1914 Creative Park . LOVED the park... it's basically an arts centre run from an old abandoned factory where they have a bunch of events, galleries, boutiques, performances and restaurants. We went for dinner at 'Alleycats' in Huashan and ate so much GLORIOUS Pizza....we also almost sat on a sneaky little cat that was camouflaged into the chair! When we moved tables...we took the cat with us to joining in on the dinner fandangos! Wahhh then imagine my delight when a Hello Kitty Polaroid camera was unleashed?!!?!?!?I totally want one!!!!



Can you spot the invisible cat?!?! She's called Olive!!!
And finally a couple of snaps from the workshops over the weekend!

And with that I'm off to bed!!!
Love
Emma xxxx

Going British in Taipei and Glorious Burgers!

Good Evening from Taipei!!!!
So yesterday I took a day away from the studio which was fun as I had a special agenda planned! In the morning I had a few bits and pieces of work to do with a couple of super exciting side projects that I'm working on whilst here in Taipei!Then it was onto hitting up some shopping action in Ximending (which is one of my favourite areas here!)...It was dark so there was neon overload which made me happy and there's so many awesome shops there! It's like Taipei's answer to a mini Harajuku! The evening was especially exciting as I met a friend for dinner...but not just any dinner...a special one.... I've been having mega food cravings so I've been counting down the days to pay the British Pub a visit!!!! We went to 'ON TAP' in the Zhongxiao Dunhua area and I had one of the best veggie burgers OF MY LIFE!!! Veggie walnut burger with Heinz ketchup...this made me so happy! This place serves cider and allsorts...even a bit of quiche!! LOVED IT! Of course we then branched out to a little place up the road for some GLORIOUS ice cream puffs for dessert!

The other day during a return trip back to the amazing fabric market we stumbled upon an exhibition which was literally over the road from the market... Now I don't know the full info as none of the literature they were handing out was in English...but it was a bunch of Architecture students from a local university showing different ways of changing a building's appearance...or something to that effect. It was pretty cool and they had decked the place out with a load of crochet and the likes....also inside was a showcase of conceptual chairs and a few digital features....it was hottt...as I said that's all the info I have on that....so answers on a postcard if you happen to know the full story!!!


I'm off to bed...over and out...
Love Emma
xxxxx

Memorial Halls and Foreign Medication!

Ooh hiya!
To be honest there is not a great deal of gossip this week as the past few days I have been battling feeling horrendously ill. Also, I can't stop thinking about the awful situation going on in Japan right now. I really can't believe the tragic footage from this disaster, incredibly sad. I was relieved that my friends in Japan have remained safe at this time but, it's just frightening to watch it all unfold. At one point Taiwan was put on Tsunami Alert and I'll admit I was totally panicked, likewise when I started reading about potential radiation threats here. So yes, let's just say it's a bit too close for comfort being so near. But please take the time to go and donate to the Red Cross Tsunami Appeal, it only takes a couple of minutes to help our friends in Japan: CLICK HERE!!!
As for being ill... nothing worse than being sick in a foreign country, all I wanted was my nice, patchwork blankets, Heinz tomato soup and lots of Channel 4. One highlight of the illness was the weird trip to the Taiwanese pharmacy.... they ended up giving me a huge amount of random pills, which to be honest haven't even worked apart from giving me crazy dreams and nightmares including being in a rockband, The Great Fire of London and getting tattoos of orange circles!
Anyway, earlier this week I took myself off on a research trip which was fun. I managed to pick up a few awesome bits and pieces from a great craft store called 'Bear Mama DIY' which can be found near to Taipei Main Station. They had a whole bunch of great stuff... and my luggage is likely to be close to bursting when I leave! The jewel and sparkle situation was super hot and I'll be excited to put some of the delights I purchased into good use upon my return to the UK!
In other news I went to check out the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and the 'Emerald Lake' and I was happy that it hit 25 degrees as it's been pretty chilly recently!
The evening saw a yummy veggie/gossip dinner with a graphic designer called Ann, here in Taipei who I had randomly met via a girl from high school! Small world! Now I'm back onto designing some pieces for an upcoming project, so full steam ahead and all!

Before I get back to my pencil and paper.... www.keepthewolf.com recently featured some of my latest and current works on their website! Yayyyyy thanks!



Love and Sparkles
Emma
xxxx

The Super Slushy of Taipei...

Good Afternoon from rainy Taiwan!
Pretty sparse on the updates as I'm currently cracking on with making 2 new pieces so right now it's hardcore sessions with a bit of J-Pop and Lady Gaga in the studio!
On Monday however I took a day off to attend to the realms of the city! Bit of a whistlestop itinerary as I had to tend to a greatly anticipated sleep-in and a laundry mission! Then it was onto a couple of exciting meetings in town with some awesome creatives that I look forward to collaborating with followed by a chilly stint writing my journal in the 228 Peace Park. The park has a memorial to the victims of the 228 Massacre in the form of a spire and cubes alongside the Memorial Museum and the National Taiwan Museum.

Next stop was LUNCHTIME at my favourite veggie place... 'Minder Vegetarian' which has a Taiwanese buffet of abundance as well as a regular menu with things like "Vegetarian Bacon Pizza" and the likes!
I was then hotfooting it back East to the Taipei City Hall area to check out a couple of places as well as indulge in a bit of social time! I've talked about my praise for the ' Couchsurfing' network before but, I always need to bring it up because I think it's amazing! In the evening I met up with a lovely fellow artist I'd met via Couchsurfing and we hit up a German beer cellar in the Eslite building. The place is called Le Blé d’Or and it made me feel like I was back in Austria! Staff were rocking super-cute Lederhosen with multi-coloured embroidery and hats with feathers! The whole place is decked out in true Bavarian style complete with beer barrel chairs and weird ales! As we know I LOVE a Slushy and I have possibly found the World's biggest one....Guinness and raspberry...it was so big I had major brain freeze and could only finish half of it!
The Eslite building has become one of my favourite places here in Taipei....it has a really great International magazine department with pretty much every fashion mag I could think of... the art and design book floor is AMAZING...there's a tonne of really cool boutiques in there as well as cafe's and stuff so it's quite a crowd puller and it's fun to hang out there!



Anyway that's pretty much what has gone down in the past week...so there's a few photos... I'm still getting to grips when it comes to using this fancy camera in the nighttime... and I seem to have captured a couple of mystical orbs on a shot of the Taipei 101 building.... I like to think it's some sort of paranormal activity even though it's clearly a photo taking mishap!
Oooh one last thing before I return to my sequins...here is a feature of my work in Zona de Obras Magazine (Spain) from a while back which, I'm finally getting round to posting!


Anyway...
Toodle Pips and Chopsticks!
Emma
xxx