BYE BYE BLAH BLAH BLOG

There will be no more updates on this web address as the Blog has moved to
http://katrinfreitag.blogspot.com/

Happy weekend

Inspiration in sunlight

I took some more photographs of my inspiration board on Monday. The sun was pouring in through the big pane windows and it was a lot of fun to capture some details.

Tales from a textile studio

While I was working on the inspiration board for this blog, I finally found the name I was looking for. And it was there all along.

I feel I do really need to change the name. Though I liked "Tapetenwechsel" and what it stands for, I think most people probably will not be able to pronounce it (or remember it).

Any thoughts?

Inspiration

So here it is, my inspiration board.

I'll print this image and put it in the notebook you see in the bottom left corner, where I keep a record of things that inspire me. As this inspiration board should show my personal style and how I want my blog to look like, I decided to assemble some of my work* on the table, instead of  just sticking cut out pictures from magazines onto a board, like I have done previously for coursework at university. I will take some images of those mood boards this week to share them with you here on my blog.

I should have taken the photograph in natural light, but I admit, I didn't. Sorry. 

I had a very busy week and today, after lunch, I wanted to have a short nap, before I finish my homework and woke up hours later. By then the little daylight that we get here in the north of England in February was gone. I can sleep for hours and still feel tired - maybe the energy burst you should have in your second trimester of pregnancy is just a myth.

Anyway - I got up and took some images of the board, without flash, in my textile studio, but was not too happy with them. So I went through to my partner's photography studio and used the big daylight flash.

[image I took in my textile studio - not too happy with it]

I left the arrangement on the floor and will go back tomorrow afternoon (if I get back home early enough that is) and take some daylight pictures from different angles.

*I put two of my fabric designs in the background and arranged some of the things I make and sell in my Etsy shop on top, together with some of the materials and tools I use, oh - and a couple of pictures I cut out from a magazine.

Please comment! Don't be shy.

Trapezius

TRAPEZIUS, John’s most recent dance film, has been accepted at two more festivals.



It will be screened most nights from 7th Feb 2010 to 4th April 2010 at Xtend IV, in South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell, as part of their LIFT OFF! dance festival this spring.

First we have been told that it would be part of a larger showreel of dance films, but then the festival director liked it so much, TRAPEZIUS is now being featured on it’s own screen.

It will also be screened at Phoenix Picture House, Oxford at a special screening event alongside a new commissioned work for “Dance Festival - DANCIN' OXFORD.” on 21st March 2010.

And here are some images of me preparing the backdrops used in this film.

The bump

There's something I haven't mentioned on the blog yet...

John and I are having a baby. It'll be due at the end of May. We are so happy!

Handles

We finally got handles on our kitchen drawers and cupboards. It was quite tricky without them, but if you start with the bottom drawer and then pull out the next one... well you get the idea.

The decision-making was quite tricky, too, as I really like these:

[found at car möbel]

  but we finally settled for those:

[found at ikea]

as they go well with the oven handle and all the other stainless steel in the kitchen. There is already different types of wood going on and I wanted to keep things plain and clear.

Tapetenwechsel

Thinking of renaming my blog...
So far "Tapetenwechsel" is my favourite name. Litereally it means "change of wallpaper". It's also used for changing location. And as this is what I am doing at the moment (literally and in a metaphorical sense) I think it might be the right name.
As I am designing wallpaper (amongst textiles and other things) it could stay the name of my blog even after all the moving and decorating is finished. Once we've settled in we will still need a "Tapetenwechsel" from time to time, as you could use this expression to discribe that you want to get away for a few days and stay somewhere else, i. e. need to look at different wallpaper.

Does that make sense, what d'you think?

The Poppies

I am nominated for "The Poppies", a virtual awards ceremony, on Poppytalk, one of my favourite blogs.

Take part in this event celebrating the Handmade Community and browse through the lists of nominations here to find your favourite handmade accessories. Or just click on my name, and vote for Freitag Design! ;)

Correspondence between Goethe and Schiller

Computer Journalist Giesbert Damaschke puts the correspondence between Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller on a blog - in real time.

Well, nearly real time, there is a delay of 215 years. Letters form 1794 - 1805 will be posted on the date they were written.
Giesbert Damaschke started on 13th of June 2009, and as about 1011 letters were exchanged over a period of 11 years he plans to be finished on 27th of April in 2020.

Good luck with this exraordinary project. It will be interesting to see if these two classical authors will be able to succeed in the blogging world.

Click here to get to the blog:: Briefwechsel-Schiller-Goethe

(AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)

Recollection

Here it is, the first post labelled "my work". I'll keep posting about my work every Tuesday now.

Dionne's invite form the previous post reminded me of a picture I took for my degree project.

That's just a snapshot of the piece still at the sewing machine, but I liked it so much that I wanted to have it on my invite and the cover of my book. So we took some more photographs

and finally came up with this one:

Last week...

On Monday, the first day out after being snowed in for a week, I went clothes shopping in Leeds. Tuesday I finally managed to unpack the last two boxes that have been underneath the big table in my studio since our move in September.

I've been cooking (and eating) lots of warming winter soups this week.
Carrot and Ginger soup on Thursday, with a lovely Welsh opera singer called Richard Parry.

Friday was spicy lentil soup with “Spätzle” with Martin Riley, an opera librettist, screenwriter, storyteller and dear friend.

Saturday we went to the opening of an exhibition of works by textile artist Dionne Swift at the Bankfield Museum in Halifax. I was very curious to see her latest work as soon as I had a look at the invite.

 The exhibition continues until 7 March.

We had a fantastic night out on Saturday, when we went to The Green Miller, a pub in Huddersfield to celebrate Ruby Black's birthday. Ruby is a fashion and beauty photographer. Check out her beautiful website here.

photograph: Ruby Black

Then on Sunday I made minestrone for 7 people and, after a snowball fight and a long walk at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, it was exactly the right thing to have.

New Year – new start

The last few months I was so busy with the renovation and the move that I neglected this blog, but there is still so much to tell as 2009 was such an exciting year! I’ve been working on various creative projects, but I’ll tell you about those later. I’ve collected lots of ideas and taken hundreds of images and I can’t wait to share them with you.

I plan to blog more regularly this year and I’ve been thinking about the subjects I like to write about and allocated each subject to one day of the week.

Monday – about my week
Tuesday - projects I am working on
Wednesday- other blogs and websites I like
Thursday- documenting the renovation & decoration of our new live/workspace
Friday - online finds / flea market finds

What do you think? I am grateful for any advice.

Moving

All August we have been converting the printworks and finally things take shape. So we are about to move from Bankfield Mill





to the Old Printworks in Clayton West.

We have been shifting stuff most everyday, bit by bit.

But hopefully some of our friends will help us this weekend. It would be great to have some more hands and extra wheels to shift the bulky stuff. We should be able to crack it in a long half day, then we’ll light up the BBQ and crack open some beers.

[images, and indeed some of the text, by John Coombes]

Telegraph review: The V&A's World Beach Project

Hoooray!
Sue Lawty, who had the idea for the World Beach Project, just told me that my piece for the project was heavily featured in the Telegraph review!!

Here are some images Sue sent me:

Can hardly believe it: It made it to the front cover of the Telegraph review!
Sometimes it is worth getting cold fingers. :)

[click on the images to enlarge]

Very cold fingers indeed, as we went to a beach in North Yorkshire on a stormy cold December day. See more images here and here, or go to the V&A site to find out how to join in.

Here's the link to the article on theTelegraph website - (and there's my piece).

The Daily Telegraph is one of the biggest newspapers in the UK with a daily circulation between 842 000 and 911 000.
That is more than Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Sueddeutsche Zeitung together! - I am quite gobsmacked.

The article is great, congratulations to Sue! I hope many people will be inspired to create their own piece and take part in this fantastic project.

Superfluous signs

Some more signs had to come down at the printworks.





And whilst John was up there to check if the big sign at the front would come down easily...











I think he just couldn't resist. Punktuation mistakes really bother him.

The Paper Collar

Late last night whilst John did some lighting tests I was folding sheets of beautifully aged paper to form a collar for todays photography session.

[photo: John Coombes]

Todays Photo Sesssion

Been working on another photo session today. This time we have been shooting upstairs!

Possibilities and facts

The possible flowers have turned into real flowers,
the possible garden has turned into our garden
and the old printworks, well, John signed the contract last week and we will turn the old printworks into our living and working space.



Taking the sign down.

Studio Glimpse

ArtWEEK Fringe @ Holme Valley Warehouse

There are some gorgeous things on display at the Holme Valley Warehouse.



I fell in love with this little creature. Introducing... Brains Floatation Device for fairies.
See more "Brains Fairy Aiding Inventions" by Samantha Bryan
on her website.



Raku fired sculpture by Andrew D. Hill.

Possible flowers

Possible flowers for the possible garden.

Holmfirth ArtWEEK

I will be exhibiting at the Holme Valley Warehouse in Honley
next week as part of Holmfirth ArtWEEK.

‘thoughtful art’

an eclectic mix of fairies & 3 dimensional art

Thursday, 2nd July - Saturday, 11th July 2009

Holme Valley Warehouse

11 Westgate
Honley HD9 6AA

You are welcome to come along!

The vegetable high bed

We were building a raised bed for vegetables at the possible garden yesterday.



It's been pouring down with rain.



We built the wooden frame on Thursday evening and went back yesterday to fix some polythene to the inside. Then we started filling in twigs and sticks for the first layer.
Next layer will be cut grass/turf and then maybe some horse manure.
Then straw or hay and then a thick layer of leaves,
then compost and finally topsoil.

The frame is 240 cm long and 160 cm wide, which is a bit wider then recommended but I will still be able to reach across.

Can't wait to plant my seedlings outside! Meanwhile they sit here at the studio at the window cill.