Weaving and Updates!!!

Hellooo!!! Ooopps so it's been a while....I've been tucked away working on a couple of cheeky projects which has basically taken up alllll my time, hence my lack of updating my blog... thought I would share this picture from one of the side projects that I worked on during my position as artist in residence in beautiful Maribor, Slovenia....
A main feature of the concept  of my collection 'The Hives of Lepi Spomini' was the idea of physically utilising both the aesthetics and actual space of my environment in Maribor. '16th Century Wall Weaver' was a developmental installation that I carried out within the gallery space with the aim of progressing this exercise into a final garment. During my time working on the programme I was based in the studio in the Koroski 18 Gallery, a 16th century built building in the heart of the city. The concept was to physically embrace the space by turning the archways into a board loom and using fabrics produced in the local textile industry to create a woven garment that was both showcased at the 'Call Me Human Torch' exhibition and as part of the photography collaboration with Iris Aman Cara. 
Post residency I have been continuing developing the project and taking the collection further from my documentation and research carried out in Slovenia. I have since designed a piece of graphic artwork which has been digitally printed on fabric here in the UK featuring aspects of all things Lepi Spominiiiii! The project will be used as part of a collaboration with a creative team in London next week which I'm super excited about!!! I will be shooting with the wonderfully talented photographer, Yuji Watanabe, who I had the pleasure of working with whilst I was based in Japan!!!weeee exciting!
In other exciting news.....I shall be launching my online shop in the upcoming weeks which will run via my website...I will be gradually adding more pieces over the next few months ranging from ready to wear items, one off pieces and occassional wearable art garments from recent projects and collections....Coming up pronto is the London Skyline dress featured at the 'Fish and Chips Twice, Please?!' exhibition in Vienna aswell as spotted on popstar Cher Lloyd on ITV's the 'Xtra Factor' and not to forget worn by the awesome Alexis Knox on Swedish 'Mi Lajki' TV....Also in the mix are items featuring the brand new digital print from my recent collection that I just mentioned and other delights....so watch this space for updates on that!!!!!
Ok, so it's back to the old sewing machine- sequins and rhinestones galore today!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxx

ARTE TV & NARC Magazine...

Hello Hello!!!
Just a quick one with a couple of bits and pieces then it's time for tea!!! As I mentioned I recently showcased my stuff as part of NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week as part of their action packed programme of events, shows and other joys highlighting design talent in the North East! Pieces from my collection, 'Colourful Creatures are Often Poisonous' shot by the wonderful photographer, Yuji Watanabe, in Japan were featured in an article all about NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week in NARC Magazine...There it is above...
In other news some of my work was also featured in the recent London edition of the series 'Tracks' produced by French/German TV station, ARTE.... queue the slightly fuzzy pictures courtesy of my screen-grabbing digitzzz below!!!
Right....that's all for now!!!! Catch you laterzzzz!!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxx

 

The Hives of Lepi Spomini!!!!!

Zdravo.....
So the past few weeks have been amazing and I have enjoyed enough magical and unforgettable memories to last me a lifetime and a half.... woaaahhh cheesy!!! As you know (because I've talked about it wayyy too much!) I've spent the past few weeks working in Slovenia living as a faux-Mariborian... doing things such as sewing in a creepy yet amazing 16th century ancient gallery with ghosts....posing as a pretend professional gingerbread maker....sampling every cake on offer....having a near death experience with a wayward umbrella....and too many antics to mention....

My reasons for being in this lovely city were to carry out my projects as part of my artist residency which was something I had been working in preparation for, for several months prior to touching down in Magical Maribor....so finally it is awesome to see it all come together! One aspect of my work there was the development of the pieces for my collection which is titled 'The Hives of Lepi Spomini'- Lepi Spomini is a Slovene phrase that translates as 'nice memories'...now if you click HERE this will take you to the project text on my website which basically gives the full low down of the concept, influences and all of the info about my new series of works- as it's a bit too long to pop onto the blog! So please check it out!!!
Another element within my work in Slovenia was to interact and collaborate with creatives who are working and living in Maribor to involve their input and creative ethos into my projects. I had the honour of working with the wonderfully talented, local photographer, Iris Aman Cara, as part of a collaboration which was also showcased at our 'Call Me Human Torch' exhibition... these are a few images from our shoot and of course you can see the full line up HERE!
So that's the deal with my latest works... and of course there was the exhibition that opened last week in which I was presenting my work alongside awesomeeeee visual artist, Jérôme Souillot....it's been A.M.A.Z.I.N.G to be able to work alongside Jérôme for this past few weeks as he's super talented and also finds things like musical lollypops funny....

It's been such an incredible experience working with the Guestroom Maribor programme and all of the wonderful people who have supported and worked with me along the way... I totally fell in love with the city and it's been awesome to work with so many new ideas, influences, creatives and medium...  I've put further info about the project and my activites HERE!!!
Ok, so this blog post is turning into a book...so I shall wrap it up.... be sure to check out the full low down on the new collection and project on my website: www.emma-bell.com....
I was sad to wave farewell to Slovenia a couple of days ago as the whole thing was so much fun and offered so much food for thought for my upcoming projects.... I still have a zillion photos from my final days there so I shall savour those for another post!!! HUGE HUGE thanks to all of the team at Guestroom Maribor and for the wonderful support of the project partners.... super duper thanks to Jérôme for the ongoing entertainment and special memories involving burnt toast etc.... Massive thanks to Iris and the photoshoot team, Katra and all of the lovely people that helped make my time there so great!!!
Alright...so image credits for the photoshoot: 
Photographer: Iris Aman Cara.
Make Up Artist: Mateja Skočir.
Hair Stylist: Luis Roldan.
Models: Urška Lipovž & Tanja Popovič.

Right with that....I'm off the watch the Queen's Jubilee concert....

Love and Sparkles,

Emma xxx 

'Call Me Human Torch' is OPEN!!!!

 

Zdravo from Slovenia!!!!!
So just a quick one..... last night our exhibition, 'Call Me Human Torch' opened in Koroski 18 Gallery in Maribor...here is a sneak peek of some of my stuff including my photography collaboration with wonderful local photographer, Iris Aman Cara.... plenty more photos and full info to come when I get myself turned around!! The exhibition features my new series of works titled 'The Hives of Lepi Spomini' developed here as part of my project as artist in residence in Maribor. But, all in all the opening event was awesome and we had squillions of people come to check it out so, I was super happy!! We also had cakes (which were gone by the time I got around to going to grab one...eeekkk!) and plenty of Jägerbombs!!! So more photos to come soooonnn and HUGE HUGE thanks to all of the people who supported us and helped us out!!!!
In other news my stuff will also be shown this evening in the UK.... My work is going to be showcased as part of NE1's Newcastle Fashion Week which, I'm so excited to be involved with as it's great to do something in my hometown!!!  HERE is link to the event and if you happen to be around go and ch ch check it out!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxxx

The Slovenian Road Trip of Dreamzzzz!!!

Helloooo from Slovenia (Eurovision Style!)
So the past few days have been awesome...and some of the favourite days OF MY LIFE wahhhh!!!! I had the chance to be kindly taken on a magical, whirlwind road trip around beautiful Slovenia....I had the best time EVER!!!!

First up was an adventure to AMAZINGGG Lake Bled where we checked out the castle and sampled the gourmet local vanilla slice!!!! One of the prettiest places I have ever been...I'd be more than happy to have a fairytale view like this everyday!!!

Next on the cards was something I have wanted to do FOREVER!! We headed to the town of Radovljica to attend a workshop at the Lectar Museum- which is basically a chance to watch the masters at work as they craft the famous gingerbread hearts- and then get in there and make your own! This was sooo much fun...one of the best places in the World for sure!!! The best part of our workshop was when a tour group of about 30 business men rocked in and we ended up with a this outrageous audience- The real pinnacle was when I was
mistaken for a member of staff in the bakers paradise- obviously I look like a professional gingerbread maker.... we also had the most incredible lunch with a beautiful view over the mountains at the Lectar House and a spider dropped on me from a tree....
After the glorious session at the gingerbread palace we headed to the capital, Ljubliana and it's also one of my new favourite places!!! Plenty of curly buildings and an abundance of deluxe cakes!!!

Also in the mix this weekend was a wonderful trip to the countryside where I was kindly invited to the 'house of dreams' by two lovely girls, Katra and Iris! AMAZINGGG house full of trinkets and treasures complete with orchards, an old brewery and magical views!!!!  We were staying in Zalec  and also popped to Celje to check out the castle!!!
Ok, so words are not enough...so I'll round this off with some pictures...obviously I've been selective as I was so excited that I was in total tourist mode and snapped about 600 photos!!!!
Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxx

Radio Station Fun Times and Other Joys....

Oohhh Hiya!!!!
Well, to be honest the past few days have mainly involved being hidden away in the studio, covered head to toe in glitter, sewing frantically ready for a photoshoot that I was working on today.... it also involved a lot of fake, sugar free Red Bull, ghost dodging, marathon watching and of course the occassional slice of freshly baked strudel!!!

A few days ago we did an interview with the guys at Radio MARŠ here in Maribor which was so much fun....it was also followed by the most gourmet Tiramisu ice cream! A little dog also came along for the ride and radio action!!!!
The other night I went to my first ever Harp recital ....which I really enjoyed and was hosted at a lovely event at Skrinja Galerija with a dance performance and a viola!!!!
This week I've been working on a weaving project that uses the physical space of the

gallery where I am based, alongside creating
the new pieces that I will be exhibiting here in Maribor as part of my series titled 'The Hives of Lepi Spomini'. More on that some other time!!!
So, today was one of my favourite days since I arrived here in beautiful Slovenia.... a big part of my project here involves collaborating with local creatives and the art scene here in the city... today I was working with an AWESOME team on creating some photography that will be

showcased as part of our 'Call me Human Torch' exhibition that opens next week. I was so excited to work with a bunch of people here in the city and I'm looking forward to unleashing the images that we created!!!
In other exciting news...the posters and flyers arrived hot off the press this morning and they look all shiny and glorioussss!!!!
Ok so I shall leave you with a couple of pictures...
Love and Sparkles,
Emma xxxxx

 

'Call Me Human Torch'- New Exhibition!!!!!

Ooohhhh Hiya!!!!

Weeee super excited that now we can unleash the info on our upcoming exhibition here in Maribor, Sloveniaaaaaa!!!...I'm the cat puppet with the pink hair and green eye make-up of course!!!!

On May 28th 2012 myself and fellow artist in residence, Jérôme Souillot, will be opening 'Call Me Human Torch' at the gallery KOROŠKA 18... the exhibition will showcase our projects created in partnership with Guestroom Maribor, Pekarna Magdalenske Mreže and MARIBOR 2012:European Capital of Culture. Yayyyyyy can't wait....and as the poster says, 'secrets, cakes and gossips welcome' so we won't complain if you turn up with treats or some juicy scandal!!!.... If you happen to be in town then pop in and check it out!!!!

Finally, I shall leave you with the GLORIOUSSSS view that I had the delight of clocking as I walked home over the Drava River this evening, with my bag full of buns and wool.....

Love and Sparkles,

Emma xxx

Textile Factories, Rhinestones and the Dalai Lama...

Good Evening from Mariborrrr!!!!!
So it's been quite an action packed week.... although mainly this involves parking up in the studio surrounded by sequins, jewels and glitter which is always great!!! I've also been trying to master how to say 'kvačkanje' which is the Slovene word for crochet which, I have been doing a lot of this week.... queue the magical shades of orange and blue wool that I've been working with....


Alongside the sewing I've also been starting the preparations for a couple of collaborations that I have coming up here which I'm soooo looking forward to!!! I'm soon to be shooting with a Maribor based photographer- and yessss, she rocks up to meetings in AMAZING ball gowns so this is set to be a super exciting project!!! 
Today has been especially awesome..... it began this morning after I ate some lovely strawberries...next thing, the Dalai Lama is driving down the street past the gallery, police escort and all....so I do hope that he LOVED our magical bunting that is festooning the building?!?!!?! Random start to the day!!!! 
This afternoon I made an encore back at the textile factory to pick up some delights in their  fabric store....I LOVE THIS PLACE!!! They're one of the few factories in the industrial area of Maribor that are still producing and everything they sell is manufactured here in the city so I'm really excited to be using materials that I've sourced locally....picked up some real gems today....AMAZING colours and awesome prints!!! 
Next up we were on a mannequin hunt and went to visit a jewellery designer who makes wonderful, magical creations and who had whipped up a lovely chocolate and banana cake! With colourful sprinkles and allsorts!!!!
The rainy day was rounded off with a quick visit to an illustration exhibition that was opening down the road..... and finally I can watch some Jersey Shore and finish off a bit of bejewelling before bedtime!!!!!!
In other news we had an incident involving a fire alarm courtesy of some burnt toast and I successfully managed to navigate the complicated foreign washing machine.... 

Love and Sparkles,
Emma
xxxxxxx

Yessss, of course I'm loving the Slovene TV when it involves outfits like this!

Presentations, Theatre Trips and BIG CAKE!!!!

Hello from Maribor!!!!
So, it's been a busy past few days....Earlier in the week we hosted an artist presentation in the gallery which was a great chance to share our 

work with the local community and fellow creatives in the city. I showed some slides and film from previous projects and discussed my upcoming work here in Maribor....there was also a chance to go to the opening of French culture week here in the city which was mucho fun!!!!
On Wednesday night I went to the see the world premiere of Jan Fabre's performance with Antony Rizzi called 'Drugs Kept me Alive', at the theatre which was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G ....Loved it!!!! It's a really beautiful theatre so was great to get the chance to go...lots of sparkles and awesome chandeliers!!!! 
Also in the mix have been too many trips to the second hand store....simply because they have wayyyy too much good stuff!!! I expect I will have a major problemo with excess baggage when I leave here!!!
I've mainly been locked up in the studio working on my new pieces so, now there is a nice carpet of glitter beneath my desk!!!!

 Last night I ended up going on an impromptu road trip to the nearby town of Celije to check out a new photography exhibition at Galerija Plevnik Kronkowska which was fun....and in other news I ate the best ice cream of my life....DELUXXXE cherry and chocolate flavour!!!!
The cake situation is getting out of hand.... there are just too many swirly creations to sample!!!I'm going with the excuse that it's for 'research'!!!! Other goings on include punnets of mutant strawberries, suspected ghosts, homemade cake deliveries, obsessions with the vegan fast food kiosk, climbing church towers and a vending machine that specialises in only milk!!!!
So yeah, it's been pretty action packed.... It's a really awesome city and I LOVE IT so, I'm hoping for plenty more gossip and extravangazas...but for now it's bedtime!!!!
Love and Curly Cakessss,
Emma
xxxx