10 Gales

Recently opened 10 Gales in Bethnal Green is a real treat. Located in arch 10 under the railway, the gallery has a bit of everything - art, fashion, a little cafe and cheap haircuts (courtesy of my housemate Mitsuki). It's a great space with huge potential. Already the owners (one Finish, one Spanish - both lovely guys) are hosting events there - live music, story telling etc. The atmosphere is warm, friendly and inviting - infact it's pretty hard to leave.

Dora

My bike, and current love.

The Snowman

Everyone had to design a bauble for our work Christmas party. This was mine.

No Ordinary Love

I have no idea why I'm naming this post after a Sade song.. hardly fitting. But my new found love for William Eggleston's photography makes me want to sing. Or rather, transport myself back to the 1970s and get snap-happy with a large format camera.

From Memphis Tennessee, Eggleston was an innovator of colour photography. And he does what I can only dream of doing - captures something everyday and ordinary and turns it into something beautiful and sacred. The colour and texture of these images is the stuff that (my) dreams are made of.

Isn't that another song?

Perfect Match

Taking inspiration from the products which surrounded her during her teenage years in Delhi, particularly Indian match boxes, Sroop Sunar is an Illustrator and recent Central St Martins graduate. She has already designed prints for Howies and her work has such a textured and haphazard quality - bold, black typefaces juxtaposed with strong colour palettes.

The Big Knit

Imagine my delight when I went into Sainsbury's for eggs and milk and came across these lovelies (not these exact ones). I hate the post-work supermarket run but this put the smile right back on my face. I love Innocent, I love woolly hats and I love that I spent so long choosing which hats to get. Actually seemed like I was the only one who a) was completely enthralled by this and b) noticed it at all. Lighten up Londoners.

So for every purchase, Sainsbury's and Innocent are giving 35p to Age Concern. And they haven't even had to fork out for production costs - all the hats are donated.

Tailor Made

Gianpaolo Pagni's work is a real breath of fresh air from all the slick, digital illustrations out there (although I love those too). His use of strong black lines against block colour feels very raw and old school. Plus he's obviously a fan of 'Courier' typeface. Good man.

Oo La La

Cards by Darling Clementine - who are well worth checking out. Very cute illustrations and graphics. Of course they are, they're Scandanavian.

El Dia de los Muertos

Day of the Dead (or All Souls day) is celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries on November the 1st and 2nd. It's a traditional festival based on the belief that death is a transition of one life to another. It's a colourful and happy celebration as opposed to a sombre, morbid affair (how death is typically viewed by us Brits) and this year was celebrated at the British Museum here in London.

Mexican printmakers Manuel Manilla (1830 - 1895) and J.G Posada (1852 - 1913) illustrated calaveras in everyday acts, and the iconic images are inspiration for decorations and costumes seen during the celebrations. I am fascinated by them; when in Mexico I frequently came across images and Papier-mâché models in shops and cafés and am happy to see the tradition being celebrated this side of the pond.

Magma are selling prints of illustrations taken from The Great Pantheon of Lovers by J.G Posada, seen above.

Memory Lane

A series of my photos; something I plan to keep adding to and working on! I'm not going to write much about them because, a) I feel a bit pretentious and b) I can't quite articulate my thoughts on them. But basically they're sort of about nostalgia and the unchanged side of Britain. It's pretty 'in vogue' to look back at the past- retro and heritage etc etc but I'm trying to capture something different to that, something less obvious and someting much more ordinary. Anyway, make of them what you will.

Pacman-ia

So much better than your average pocket mints. Available from Cyber Candy

Sugar Sugar

I don't know the name of this shop on Broadway Market but it is cute as a button. Can't beat the old school sweets and glass jars. Funnily enough, the lovely lady who owns it is diabetic! In return for taking photos she asked me to drop a few coins in her diabetes charity box.

Hattie's House

Hattie and her Mum live in Lewes, near Brighton, and I went for bonfire night on Thursday. Lewes is a beautiful, typically English little town full of antique shops and 'Christmas Houses'- a term I have coined for stunning old town houses where you walk past and look in to see families and friends eating, drinking and laughing and imagine that always a good Christmas is had there. If that makes any sense. Anyway, I was pre-warned by a friend that I would want to take photographs all over Hattie's house and indeed, it was very photogenic. Christmas! Yeah!