Costume design for Mustang Hobo

After finishing up with Nice Day Designs it took me a long time to figure out my relationship with my own art. I was burnt out, dry of ideas and no longer sure if I ever wanted to pick up a sewing needle ever again. I tentatively made a few pieces for myself and friends over the couple of years, but waited a long time before embracing a large project again. I only wanted to do it if I loved it, I needed a real passion project to get me going again. One that I have been working on lately is being the costume designer for the music videos for Mustang Hobo, a funk/jazz band based in Scarriff.

The bassist is my partner, so naturally we've been talking at length about the creative process, his ideas for his band, and what artistic direction they want to take their videos. It seemed like a natural evolution of both our relationship and our conversations that I would work on them with him. I like how his crazy brain works, and he likes that I can somehow make his ideas a reality.

The most recent one that I worked on was the song 'So You Think I'm Crazy', which shows the curious journey of a man into the afterlife, which is populated by craven woodland fairies, of which I am one. My direction was pretty specific, he wanted fairies but not the glittery pretty kind; something rugged, textured, and hairy. As is the case with all bands there was pretty much no budget, so this lack of funds informed my decision to collage different fabrics together to make woodland pixie hoods. I used these pieces to accessories a cast of extras all dressed in browns and earth tones.

That's us just as we shot the last scene

The couple of days that I was on the shoot, there were seven in total, were loads of fun, I got to style all of the extras, and it was great to see ideas go from paper, to creation, then to final cut. When I saw the final edit I was pretty blown away with what the Niall Coley, the director of photography, came up with, I didn't expect it to be so beautiful and lush. We'll be making more, and the ideas have gotten even bigger and crazier. I've already started working on the next one, but it's all hush hush, I have to say though, it's pretty darned cute!

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Hotty But Notty: Beck

Hotty But Notty (Part 19): Beck

So it's a given that Beck is a musical genius, I pretty much love everything he does, and he seems to be able to slip between lots of genres with equal ease, ergo he is pretty amazing. He is also as cute as a button in a little boy kinda way, which is not normally my thing but I'll make an exception for him( and Michael Cera and Jesse Eisenburg too). So where is the 'notty' bit coming from you ask?

Well little did I know, until my friend Mark informed me, that he is a Scientologist*. Now I'm not normally one to judge people based on their religious beliefs, but really come on we all know Scientology is for crazy people. Since most of this series has been dedicated to me fancy smart people I find it hard to be attracted to someone who believes in a religion created by a science fiction writer(among other things).

*So is one of my previous entries Giovanni Ribisi, who's sister Beck is married too, weird huh?

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Body and Soul Festival

Thanks Val for the photo!!

For the second part of my 30th birthday celebrations I went to the Body and Soul festival in West Meath over the weekend. There was loads of hassle in the week leading up to it with lack of lifts, selling my Friday add on ticket, and John's ticket being stolen two days before we were due to go. Eventually we got everything sorted, got lifts from lovely people, and magically got the stolen ticket back!

Body and Soul is a much smaller festival than Electric Picnic or Oxygen, it only has about 5000 tickets and is set in a forest beside a lake at Ballinlough Castle. Most of the features are handmade from wood from the forest, including the main stage. It has a very hippy-ish relaxed atmosphere, with a wide group of people from all ages, from 2 to 70 years of age. As much as I loved Electric Picnic the smallness of this festival really appealed to me as I felt the Picnic was getting too big and brash.

The forest is probably the nicest part of the festival, it gains it's own personality during the night when it is lit with beautiful coloured lights. The different areas of the festival are built around this space, with outside areas feeling like hobbit homes, filled with magical pieces of art. On the Saturday night the is a festival wide masquerade ball, as you can see form above I made a pink ad black felt mask. I didn't put the usual amount of effort into my costume as I normally do as because I was really busy with the party, but I'm glad I did something. I got the sequinned top at the barbootsale a couple of weeks before for only €6, and I wore it with my black tutu. John insisted that I bring the flamingo head from my Queen of Hearts costume because it matched so well, I lost it after about 2 hours!

There was very heavy rainfall in the week before which meant that the grounds were really muddy. It made the festival quite tough going, even getting to the bathroom was quite a chore from our tent. It felt like I had thighs of steel after all that wading through shin deep mud, funnily enough though it was easier to navigate after a few beers. But luckily enough the festival Gods shined down on us on Sunday and showered us with the most glorious sun all day.

I will definitely go again next year, but I would much prefer to go on Friday to get rid of the chores of the tent set up etc, as the weekend felt very fast. Musical highlights were Who Made Who, Django Django, and Villagers.

 image source

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What I'm Wearing: Stripes

This is a rarity, a what I'm wearing post where I have make-up on. I've only started wearing in again over the past year or so, but since my skin is so sensitive I really only do it about once every two months of so. Otherwise my skin would be even worse than it already is...darned allergies!

These are some oldies that I dug out of the closet, I vaguely remember getting the dress in Dunnes and the waistcoat in Pennies, but it's so long ago I've no idea how much I paid for them. For once I remembered to wear some of my own creations,adding a splash of red with a button ring and one of my brooches.

I wore this the other night when I went to see Wallis Bird in Dolans. Firstly I'd like to thank my friend Peter who gave me the tickets at the last minute as he couldn't make it to the gig. He works for Spin South-West and interviewed Wallis earlier that day, he said that she was incredibly friendly and down to earth.

This was absolutely fantastic, she has an amazing voice, and a really energetic band that suit the music perfectly. Her fans all seem to be uber fans, with most of the crowd knowing all the lyrics to her songs, which made for an electric atmosphere.  

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Rock Icons: New Badges

As a lot of you probably already know the Friday market has gone through a bit of an overhaul during the past few months. It's now a mix of crafts and flea market stalls. One of the new additions is Doc who used to own Black Spot Records on Wickham St. He sells a large selection of vinyl from classic rock, pop, soul, trad, etc etc.
Last week I approached him with the idea of making music badges to sell at his stall. Obviously his records attract a different kind of customer to the ones who come to my own stall, so it made sense to cash in on that. So as of tomorrow and every Friday after that the new selection of badges will be for sale at Docs stall, they are €3 each.

To see a full gallery of images just click here.

...In no particular order...
So far I have the following artists( but I'm open to requests and suggestions):
Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Bob Marley, Iggy Pop, Elvis, Blondie, Pearl Jam, Thom Yorke, Bjork, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Manson, Nick Cave, Neil Young, U2, Ray Charles, Muddy waters, Aretha Franklin, Edith Piaf, Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, The Pogues, Rory Gallagher, Talking Heads, Sousisoux, Ramones, Nirvana, Phil Lynott, Johnny Cash, Joan Jett, Lemon Jelly, Patti Smith, Miles Davis, Sex Pistols, The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd, Rage Against The machine, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rolling Stones, Green Day, Queen, Primal Scream, Joy Division, Michael Jackson, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Motorhead, Slayer, Metallica, Kiss,Sub Pop, Frank Zappa, Guns and Roses, Joni Mitchel, Howlin Wolf, Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, and Black Sabbath

Hotty But Notty: Tom Waits

Hotty But Notty(Part 5):Tom Waits

There is no denying the attractiveness of Tom Waits,from his impressive gangling stature, his presence, to his delicious gravelly voice. I'm not in to sheen and polish, so Waits is the prefect antidote to yawnsome Hollywood veneer.

Waits has a very distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." With this trademark growl, he has worked with music styles such as blues, jazz, and vaudeville, and varying experimental tendencies.

Waits Quote: 'We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge, quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness'.

Live Jazz

One of the best attractions at the Milk Market every Saturday is the amazing music provided at Mari's Cheese Shop, there you can see at great mix of stunning musicians from Trad, Folk, and Jazz. There is a really great atmosphere, really chilled out, you can sit, have a coffee, take a break from your shopping and listen to cool music. Mari has decided to extend this to Sunday mornings between 11-1pm for the next six weeks as a trial run. If we get support for it I hope it will continue, so if you are in the area please pop down. Each week she will have different Jazz musicians playing live, and the best part is that it's free! If I wasn't working there I would go anyway, it's such a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday morning. Last week she had an amazing guitarist and pianist playing and the buzz was infectious.

Album Release for The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra

At last The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra album was released nationwide this weekend just gone. It was so exciting to eventually see the work all properly printed out, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. The feedback has been excellent so far both for the design and the album itself. The guys got a 4/5 star rating from Hotpress Magazine, and in my own personal opinion it sounds fantastic, I'm really proud to have my name attached to something that sounds great.

The merchansing machine has been working full throttle as I was making badges, magnets, and bottle openers for them, and we also ordered some lovely postcards from Moo. Also my friend Vinnie is currently making some super snazzy t-shirts with my designs on them, can't wait to see how they turn out. Their newly redesigned website went live the other day, Mark Wrafter did a fantastic job transforming my images into a website format.

The BPLO will be playing Electric Picnic this week in the spoken word stage (not sure what day) do keep an eye out if you are lucky enough to be heading to the festival. Personally I'm really looking forward to their Limerick album launch gig, the whispers I'm hearing is that there is lots of extra effort being put into this gig with top secret set embellishments! That will be on in Dolans on Sept 10th.

!!Giveaway!!

Here's the best bit, I'm having a giveaway to one lucky reader! I will be giving away an album, badges, bottle opener, and a set of postcards, and all you have to do is leave a comment here! I'll be running this competition between by blog and my facebook page. Closing date is the 7th of Sept!

Saturday Night

Last night I joined the real world and went out on a Saturday night! My friend Ann offered to put me on a guest list for a gig in Dolans, so how could I refuse?? I donned a frock, put on a bit of warpaint,and I followed a hair how-to for the first time in my life (thanks Sunday Times, I got lots of compliments!).The gig was the IMRO Showcase Tour 2010, so I got to see four acts for nothing, how recession busting is that??
First off was Nick Carswell and the Elective Orchestra, which were fantastic. I was really impressed by their orginality, and muscality. The four pieces are made up of a drummer, cellist/vocalist, double bassist, lead vocalist/keyboard player/guitarist, so quite an impressive selection for a wee group of people.There had moments that they reminded me of The Frames on a good day, and Sigur Ros from their energetic days. Rarely do I go to a gig and decide to buy an album from people I've never soon before, but I'll definitely be looking to get something from these guys, and will certainly be heading to their gigs in the future. Handy for me as they hail from Limerick!
After that we had Steve from Windings playing solo, some of you remember him from his previous incarnation from Giveamanakick. I've seen Windings a good few times over the years, and to be brutally honest I was pretty disappointed with his performance last night. I suppose people have bad days, but it was a shame. Priosly I have seen him doing stunning work on guitar, with intricate loop pedals mixed with charming quirky lyrics.
Supermodel Twins, the third band caused a not so serious fight between myself and John, we both disliked them but John claimed that they were crap. Which they really weren't, they are excellent at what they do, I'm just really not a fan of chirpy poppy rock music. They were tight and snappy, with catchy riffs, which is exactly what you need from a band like that. I can see them becoming really popular, like weezer in plaid shirts and Limerick accents. Whereas because they weren't doing anything innovative or new/cutting edge John thought they were tripe. ...silly stubborn boys!

Lastly closing the night were my good friends The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra, and I have to say it was one of their best gigs I've seen in a long time. They somehow squeezed their 8 piece band onto the tiny stage, and they looked like they had a blast for the whole time they were up there. They have a great mix up theatrical dark caberet mixed with delicate harmonies and strings. They've been gigging in various incarnations for 10 years, but are now releasing their debut album later this year (designed and illustrated by yours truely!). It was lovely to finish the night with couples waltzing on the dancefloor!

For the love of all things Irish...Happy Paddy's Day

In Celebration of all things Irish, for Paddy's Day, I'm posting some links to lovely Irish things. Wherever you are in the world have a great day. I'll be waiting on tables in the restaurant, which will be demented with kids, but I finish at 6pm so then I'll do some more packing, and afterwards go for a few pints in the pub John works in. It's nice to have him run around and get me things like pints and taytos. Blogs

Bock the Robber

Declan Shalvey

The Sexy Pedestrian

Music

The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra

Vertigo Smyth

Mick Flannery

Etsy Shops

Bonzie

Tanya Mac

Studio Seventy Seven

Art

Rasher

Mark Halpin
Emmet Kierans