Sighthill Painting

This weekend I painted the picture below. It features two tower blocks in Sighthill, Glasgow, the subject matter I most like to paint, see some previous paintings here. I have been fascinated by high rise residential buildings and the people who occupy them for as long as I can remember although I appreciate its a bit of an off the wall interest. Luckily for me my beautiful sister shares it too so our idea of a fun afternoon might be to drive off somewhere and photograph some interesting blocks. Anyway, this picture is a mixed media piece and includes the use of a strange black paint created by mixing linseed oil, picture vanish and black oil colour creating a very shiny texture. There is also some 3D items such as the blocks and the roses which were made from old books and splattered with gold paint. Its an eerie night scene but I actually find tower blocks very inspiring. Not only are they visually dominate and stark in a way that draws me in but they also are full of stories of both hope and joy and sadness and repression. Many people who lived there are dogged by negative stereotypes even though they are full of pride and dignity, keeping their flats and living spaces immaculate and pristine. I'm particularly intrigued by Glasgow and what happened there. During the post-war slum clearances the Glasgow authorities believed the best way to deal with the desperate need for adequate housing was to rehouse people in high density schemes around the city, many on the outskirts, making it difficult to travel to amenities and employment. What started out as a fantastic way of life in the thriving 1960's became a unpopular and difficult way of life by the drug and crime riddled 1980's. However, many people had fantastic experiences there and now that most of these buildings are being torn down this way of life will eventually become a thing of the past. While researching Sighthill for my painting I came across a beautiful short documentary by Chris Leslie on three people's thoughts and feelings about the Sighthill blocks on the eve of their implosion. I have posted it for your pleasure as its really powerful stuff if you like hearing about other peoples lives and how they lived them. Kat x

Day of the Dead

We all enjoyed our annual Day of the Dead get together at White House Farm. Can't remember the highlights which is usually a good sign but do remember battling with my red contacts lenses and vampire fangs. Also recall having to leave the party in full costume to feed the horses which proved a surreal experience climbing over the fence in fishnets and leather dress, the neighbours certainly got a fright! I defiantly need an excuse to dress like that on a regular basis as channeling a creature of the night is empowering to say the least, I am feeling the need to make a vampire inspired music video so watch this space!! Kat x

Dale Farm

I've just finished watching a BBC documentary about the Dale Farm eviction. Only if you've been living on the moon could you have missed any of the recent rise to notoriety Irish travellers have experienced. From the highly addictive Big Fat Gypsy Wedding series to individual success's such as the recent BB winner Paddy Doherty, their lives and culture have been a national source of entertainment and intrigue. I have found myself torn between respecting their way of life, morals and ideals to struggling with their lack of integration and contribution within the society they are willing to take from. Its a difficult one to wrestle with but the Dale Farm drama stirs up an uneasy feeling of a community forced into an impossible dilemma in a cold and ruthless world. Their dilemma illustrates how the people that run this country insist on promoting equality for all its residents, the term 'one rule for one and not for another' was frequently used by MP's and politicians when justifying their motives behind pushing the eviction through. I hate the rigidity (is this a word?) we live in, chained to a routine of doing things by the book, trapped in our own rules and regulations. The travellers appear reject this way of life and to gain strength from each other which encourages a 'us against the world' mentality. My fear is that we will be too late in realising the importance of preserving the diversity of cultures that currently exist within our country. Our community could learn a lot from the travellers who hark back to a way of life we left a long time ago in return for the faceless, commercial, crazy paced word that we have created for ourselves. The traveller way of life certainly seems a poorer deal for women but they seem happy enough in a simpler, role defined existence mainly involving caring for the home and family. On a personal level one of my first jobs was as a receptionist at a caravan park. Two months in I was promptly sacked when I took two six week bookings for tourer pitches from a couple of friendly dark haired, irish gentlemen, ooops. My father-in-law's worst nightmare features his beautiful green fields and a gaggle of white caravans so I guess there's always two sides to every story. I welcome your points of view, Kat x

The Katryoshka 'Heidi meets vintage Mrs Claus' make over

Several events have lead to this much needed make over. Firstly, my new hair which is tatty already but I love it, secondly my landmark 35th birthday and lastly, I have begun to sew again. It feels like ages since I made clothes I was really excited about but finally its happened and I can't describe my relief. You begin to doubt you ever enjoyed something if your repeatedly disappointed with the result. As all keen sewers know, it can be a lot of effort to produce a dress or jacket so to then not like it can be a blow. I think its probably all down to taking a bit of a break, being creative in other ways and allowing myself to become re-inspired. Back to the make over, I sure need it as the last few months I have been trudging around in ripped trousers and muddy boots with the horse as the perfect excuse. I shall also be trying to wear make up on a daily basis, heavy brows, red lippy and mascara at least. Below are four outfits I made this week and shall form a basis for the look, lots of frills, lace and velvet, I'll keep you posted on how the look evolves. I apologise in advance for the pictures but its half term and the only photographer available was my six year old daughter and then when she got bored, my four year old son, beggers can't be choosers! Kat x 

 This dress has that Mrs Claus feel and sewing on old broken brooches to a dress can be so effective and give it a very glamourous feel.

 This is a velvet kimono style jacket and to finish the edges I simply cut a large zig-zag which stops the fabric from fraying.

This dress is rather bold and was made while I watched the original Moulin Rouge. Frills galour!!

Finally a very useful cape that I am planning a tutorial for as its proved so useful in keeping the shoulders warm and looking stylish at the same time!!

Katryoshka on tour - Zealands, October 2011

This weekend I spent a brief but intense two nights in Bantham, on the South Devon coast. Catch up on our previous visit here. Anyway its become a kind of a tradition we do on my birthday when you can be almost guaranteed some nice, sunny weather. We had lots of fun and the only incident of displeasure occurred on Saturday night when we visited the local pub. Now I have felt for some time that the pub has been going through a sort of evolution process in the last few years. Gone are the locals and farmers propping up the bar and instead the new clientele appear to have been chosen to compliment and enhance the very high priced menu and slightly detached atmosphere. I hasten to add I have made these observations when sober and on Saturday night I was not so. I guess five ladies in high spirits crowding the bar is not ideal but as there was no where else to sit we made ourselves as home. I do believe a couple of songs broke out but I was abruptly told that singing was banned while there were any diners present or at least until the singing was 'in tune', the cheek!! The manner in which we were spoken to led us to believe that it was clear we were not welcome so everyone but one left and stood outside debating the event. Meanwhile, my friend who had remained inside to finish her drink had it poured down the sink and was shown the door. I am of the opinion that we need to preserve what is left of the British pub scene and celebrate its very essence and tradition. Music, singing and laughter are surly key to a great atmosphere and a great night out but I guess not everyone feels the same about this. Other than that we had a lot of good times, beach, beer and dog mania as usual, catch it all here on this short stop-motion film, Kat x

 

Katryoshka on tour - Setting up shop

I have so many blog posts I want to write but a lack of time means its all coming in drips and drabs. I spent some of last week 'helping' set up Alpha Male and his brother Toby's Christmas shop. I use the term help loosly because my forst and only attempt at pricing the stock involved accidently giving a £70 santa a £20 price tag so I was moved onto the more fitting task of shop displays, not too much that can go wrong there thankfully. May I present to you a short film of the experience, I have never witnessed so many boxes in one room before!! Kat x

 

Katryoshka on tour - Tony Graffiti at the street art gallery

Friday evening was rather enjoyable to say the least. Emma and I had the rare experience of leaving the kids at home and venturing out on a mission to the big city! We started at 4pm, slightly stressed after a day trying to tie up a million loose ends. First stop, Juliette's where I bought a strip of hair matching my own current shade, then round the corner to Fly girls where I had the strip of hair sewn onto my own. Emma was also there to have her weave tightened. Fly girls is a homage to fabulous Afro Caribbean hair styles and we were hoping to get a piece of the action. An hour or so later we departed, me with ludicrously long hair as I wasn't really sure what length I should be buying and 18" didn't seem that much at the time. Let me tell you, it is! I shall have to work the new hair into my vintage Heidi meets Mrs Claus makeover that has sorted of taken over my image the last few days. Then we progressed to the Green Street Gallery where Tony Graffiti, a chap who's acquaintance we had made at the Mosley Folk Festival. He was doing a mural there and we were very impressed, catch up on that post here and see us stalking him on here on this video. After the festival he had invited us to his excibition, 'smoke crack and sign on', sounded like a laugh so we thought we'd go along. The 'gallery' was a run down warehouse on a dingy street in industrial Digburth, fab and very appropriate for an exhibition of street art. His pieces were big, bright and bold and the event was full of cool looking young people. Of course we were working it with our new hair and felt that familiar excitement one feels when you rubbing shoulders in an atmosphere you find equally familiar and unfamilliar. We sailed home elated after our short but intensely fun night away from Whitehouse Farm and even managed to pig out on KFC on the way home!! Kat x

Kat gets a job

I have loads of blog blabbing to catch up on due to a full week of many new and exciting projects. I thought I'd start with the first which probably will have the biggest impact over the next few months. I have been looking for work for a while now, exploring various care jobs and the like. It was all very disconcerting with repeat issues like the lack of an NVQ (you didn't need one when I last worked in this sector). Then an opportunity arose out of the blue, Alpha male and his brother decided to open a Christmas shop to get rid of their old stock of fragrance products. Its only until Christmas Eve but it means I can work there and experience my local town from a new perspective. I shall no doubt be smuggling lots of Katryoshka goodies in there too for the hard sell!! I have to confess that I am a bit nervous about working again as its been a while but its about time I got over all of that and the opportunity will help me consider life after children once Quin starts school next year. I shall be making a stop-motion video of the creation of 'Frankincense and More Christmas Store' (Alpha Male's name idea and boy, is he proud of it). I shall also use it as an opportunity to kick start my winter make-over, vintage Heidi meets Mrs Claus!! Kat x

Getto Hen update

Bless little Getto Hen, I had been getting rather worried about her whereabouts as I hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks. Catch up on her last movements here. As she lived wild anything could have happened and if that was her fate then so be it. But I am happy to report that when I was preparing some quarters for my guineas I lifted the lid on a derelict hutch and discovered her sitting on eggs once again. My other chickens, who eat like gluttons and require a lot of cleaning out and maintenance never provide us with cute babies to coo over but Getto, well she is a chick machine if ever there was one. I have moved her to another hutch and she is still sitting on her eggs. For the first time in her life she is not having to fend for herself and receives fresh water and grain daily, just how it should be. I will post pictures of her new babies when they arrive, Kat x

MUSIC VIDEO: Story of the Trees

A brief study of the woods and tracks around White House Farm, the biggest challenge of which is stopping assorted dogs from running into shot. Que a lot of cursing and empty threats! Kat x



An evening of Tarot

This week the Tarotvan saw an evening of entertainment after a summer of infrequent visitors. It was a wet and stormy evening and I had to crank up the old calor gas heater to raise the temperature to a comfortable level. Then with the candles flickering I explored each reading which I hope was both informative and interesting for those concerned. There has since been talk of another session coming soon so hopefully the van will provide another fun evening for all involved, my deepest thanks to all those who attended on Thursday, Kat x

http://thetarotvan.co.uk/

An October birthday party

Today Alpha male and I had our children's joint birthday party. The 'do we invite the whole class' dilemma began when Anya started school. It feels like quite a political decision as I worry about offending other mothers whose daughters have invited my daughter to their parties but the fact is I have always liked the idea of a small, intimate party at home. Anyhow I let Anya decide and she chose to have her three best girlfriends so with local friends added into the mix we had eleven kids in all. We have had a bouncy castle the past few years but I find there more often used by the adults so I decided to provide entertainment in the form of a craft fest in the studio. They painted, coloured and stuck things onto angel wings, swords, airplanes and canvases. The girls also helped me pimp a white dress I was getting sick of the sight of, its now much more fun and 'Katryoshka'. Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the day such fun for my two little darlings, Kat x

Guinea pig dramas

I haven't blogged about the White House guinea contingent before so to bring you up to date - I started with seven guineas five years ago as an attraction for a business I shared with Alpha male and my parents (the 'attraction' was called Guineas in Wonderland and the guinea pig run and handmade houses were inspired by the book, including a washing line of mini guinea clothing in assorted fur fabrics around the Mad Hatters tea party ). Since then their numbers have dwindled to two and last week we lost the final female 'our Cilla'. That left Dudley, a grey rex cavy with rather a sweet nature, alone so I began searching for a new partner. As with the initial seven I chose to look for individual breeders rather than pay the extortionate prices at our local pet shop even though this always ends up backfiring when I spend a fortune on petrol driving here there and everywhere. Now something that I am beginning to discover is that behind their ordinary suburban exteriors guinea pig breeders all possessive certain scary attributes including waffling at length about their animals and a slightly disturbing way of interrogating you about your intentions. The breeder I had agreed to meet with last week bombarded my mobile with messages and pictures before I arrived for the handover. I was forced to lie on every occasion about the controversial subject of whether they would live inside or outside and the general amount of observation I would be giving them. Don't get me wrong, I care for mine but within reason having three dogs, five chickens, two cats and a horse that require my attention. I certainly do not tell them that when we are in The Croft, where they are currently situated, there can be at anyone time up to nine local dogs sat around their run attempting to intimidate them. I am glad to say they soon get used to this and even at times taunt the cold staring eyes, Kat xq

Katryoshka on tour - Susanne's German Birthday weekend

Our weekend trip began with nearly missing the airplane. After a traumatic time going through baggage check due to packing all the wrong things into our hand luggage and myself having to remove my Doc Martins which is never an easy task, we settled down with a coffee and a gossip mag only to hear final call for Stubbs-hunk. We raced down to the gate and were told we were very lucky to be allowed on so late followed by the walk of shame to our seats. Quin spent the rest of the journey being sick and I began to wonder what the weekend had in store for us. I am happy to say we had a brilliant time mostly split between our friend Susanne's parents farm, where she grew up, and her sisters house. On the Saturday we visited a castle that was believed to have inspired the magical Disney castle. It was owned by the madly self indulgent King Ludwig and the interior was decadent with every wall and ceiling painted with amazing murals and patterns. I found a lot of inspiration for caravan pimping there. The next day was Susanne's birthday party and we decorated the garage at the farm with Katryoshka style Heidi banners and floral cut out bits and bobs. It was a great day with lots of German beer and some very dark,ver potent schnapps. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and we can't thank Susanne and her family enough for their kind hospitality. It all seemed to fly by so quickly and suddenly we were rushing once again through the airport, panicking we were about to miss our plane back home due to the awful Oktoberfest traffic. I am glad to say we didn't, Kat x



While in Germany both The Muse and I developed a minor crush on Susanne's sister's husband Marcus, a dead ringer for Jennifer Aniston's beau Justin Theroux!