Grayson Perry - Being a Man

Last night I went to an amazing talk by brilliant Grayson Perry at the Southbank Centre all about Being A Man. He provided lots of great insights, and I liked his funny drawings, especially the male brain diagram which gave me a good insight into the male brain - it included the 'baloney generator' section which was closely linked to the part of the brain which told them they always had to be right.

In a way, I have never really thought about the experience of man. But like modern women they too are under a lot of pressure, and work, money, fertility and family are stresses and strains of life which both sexes face - but men don't have the same kinds of outlets for their problems which women do. Me and my female friends cry to each other a lot and have a good support network but the same isn't true for men, which is a shame and can lead to problems.

Also the growing trend for 'heritage stuff' - (like Labour and Wait in East London, heavy duty wax jackets and beards) all herald from the start of the Industrial Revolution when men could do all of that hands on labour stuff which women were ill-equipped for, and as the world moves towards digitisation, rather than industrialisation, jobs which were once the realm of men are diminishing.

He ended with his manifesto which is centred on the fact middle class white men have always had the power, and now they were needing to adapt with the changing world... which means not always holding the power, and not always knowing best...

What are YOUR thoughts?

He also included this funny pic which I sure can relate too!

Happy Friday!

Hit delete on negative thoughts ...
Upon the advice of a friend I'm taking 'CAN'T' out of my vocabularly.

Have an enjoyable and productive weekend everyone! Much love.

(Picture source T Y P O R E T U M)

Some Cool Stuff Happening this Year...

Television -

The return of Upstairs Downstairs (around the start of the year.) Did you see last years Christmas episodes? They were awesome, pure escapism gold, and livelier than Downton.


We'll Take Manhattan.. (mid-Jan) tells the tale of the love affair between Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey. It's set in New York, in 1962. A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
As if you need more convincing to tune in, this is what the BBC press office says: 'the drama brings to life the story of two young people falling in love, misbehaving, and inadvertently defining the style of the Sixties along the way.'


(check out the legendary photo shoot here)

Exhibitions:

Yayoi Kusama at Tate Modern. (opens 9 Feb) I can't wait for this. This woman influenced Andy Warhol and Donald Judd; she makes giant installations out of polka dots and her work is incredibly varied. From her psychedelic paintings, to her polka dot splattered photos; to immersive installations. And the subject matter; just as varied - women as sex objects, men as sex objects, her sexuality, your sexuality, the east the west. She's 90 and still makes art work - she's a powerful force; really sticking it to the male dominated western art world. It's going to be dazzling. MUST SEE!

The Daddy of contemporary art, Damien Hirst, will also be exhibiting in a pivotal show at Tate Modern this summer. Love him or loathe him, you'll be kicking yourself if you miss the skull ('For the Love of God') in the Turbine Hall.

The V&A has two exhibitions lined up this year and both have a distinctly British feel and both look super cool.

This first, British Design 1948 - 2012 looks spectacular. This is an all-encompassing show which celebrates and reflects the exciting creativity and innovation to be found in Britain over the past century or so.. this is gunna be filled with lots of iconic stuff that will probably make you say, "yeah, being British is pretty damn cool."

And the second... Ballgowns, British Glamour since 1950s. I think this shall be the year that I strive to take in as much glamour as I can.. this looks set to be fabulous escapism. Race you there, ladies!

Christmas Cards

These are the images I'm using on my Christmas cards this year. I either scanned the images or found them on Tumblr.

I usually open them in a word document with the margins widened and two columns set. I line up the picture on the right hand side and usually fit two on one page. Once they're printed I use a guillotine to slice them to the right size and add some glitter and sequins.

Last year I printed my images onto photo paper and cut the pictures out and stuck them onto card, this years method is far neater and easier, although I quite miss the glossy-ness of the photo paper!