Women in the jaws of history

So I have in my diary for today to write a blog post about my new feminist poster and collaboration with One Beat Zines. 

Being as we are in the jaws of history this week, it feels a bit inappropriate to be writing about anything but politics. My facebook feed is full of despair, analysis, dark humour and other coping mechanisms, highlighting once again the bubbles that we live in in the age of social media. 

52% of the voting population disagreed even if some of them have switched to camp Regrexit in the last few days, and some small percentage of those people have displayed scarily violent reactions to our immigrant, and lookliketheymightbeimmigrant populations in the heady aftermath of what, for some at least, was seen as a validation of a racist agenda. 

When I hurriedly drew this cartoon at a Broken Frontier Drink and Draw night in February in response to the brief 'something topical', I remember being frustrated at the lack of information in the media about the actual arguments in the case, sadly this was not a problem that was solved in the intervening months, and if anything it got worse. 

I really don't want to write about politics very much. Only time will tell the real impacts of the referendum and its aftermath. But it does seem like a time when more than ever we need to try to understand each other. And to try to embrace our differences, the visible and the invisible ones. 

I tend to try to steer clear of making political statements on social media, partly because of the danger as a teacher of being seen as extremist, but mostly because I'm a world  champion fence sitter. I tend to believe the answer to 99% of questions is 'it's complicated'. I only feel comfortable sticking my nose past the door on issues that seem clean cut to me, as I did with the Marriage Equality comic last year. Because it just seems to me that that's a simple issue that there's a right answer to. 

But those are rare. 

So this is my 'feminist poster' that I made for One Beat Zines to go with a selection of my zines that they are selling (get yours here) , but as you'll see it's not a simple feminist message. It's more of a sort of intersectional, anti simplifying, pro individual message. 

Although I identify as broadly feminist, just as I identify as broadly a leftie, those are identifiers that feel problematic given my essentially highly privileged background, and I feel uncomfortable with the polarising implication that any label embracing philosophy has, 

creating a them by creating an us. 

But there's a core belief that has been something I've been turning round in my head virtually my whole life, and that's about people. I believe that everyone, yes, has the capacity for good and evil, wonderfullness and terribleness, but also that everyone is a bit incongruous. Everyone has the capacity to surprise you if you give them the chance. We're messed up, broken people in what feels like an increasingly messed up and broken world. Everyone has vast tracts of ignorance, because the human brain isn't big enough for that to be any other way, (I don't know what it's like to think immigration is a bad thing, also I know very little about basketball) but we also all have knowledge. 

We know what it's like to be us. 

We have to listen to each other to begin to know what it's like to not be us.

So this has all got a bit heavy for what was meant to be me talking about some work I made. 

After I made the poster, about 6 weeks ago now, I found I still wanted to draw people coming out of cookie cutter gaps in the world. As any illustrator or advertiser will know, trying to represent diversity in a group of characters has a certain ironic repetitiveness. Really you can't do it justice ever. Because of how everyone is, you know, ACTUALLY DIVERSE. So I wanted to draw some more. And I still want to. 

So I started by drawing 4 more and giving them captions.

I wanted them to be captions that could apply to anyone. So I could maybe present these in a book with the captions on separate flaps, you know like those kids books where the heads, bodies and legs are interchangeable? 

But I'm not sure if that's what I want to do with them yet. Because as much as we do all have some things in common, not every women on earth actually has an inbox, or knew their mother, so that's not really a thing. I think I might want to do something more. I think I might want to try and tell stories about them.

I'm also not sure if I just want to do them about women. I mean, Yay Feminism. But there's been a postit on my desk for over a year with an idea for a project called "7.4 billion ways it's ok to be human". It was an idea waiting for it's aesthetic. 

OH IT LOOKS LIKE JENNY MIGHT HAVE STARTED YET ANOTHER INFINITE PROJECT. 

Apologies if you are my facebook friend waiting for me to draw you. 

So in conclusion, the theme of this blog post was I managed to think of a way to make my #shamelessselfpromotion relevant to the current events of the now. Sort of. But that also, lets all try to look beyond our differences, the visible and invisible ones, and find ways to see each other as beautiful idiosyncratic ignorant messes. 

HORAY FOR LOVE

So I managed to choose 8 cards to print - they are now available to buy in my Etsy shop I chose these ones.

And also and of course as promised - I have made the second installment of the Because You're Worth it love zine. Featuring all the best alternative valentines I have made since I first published the original zine. 

That is available also - buy them for your nearest, dearest, secret admireee etc and usv 

This is them both. 

Heylow.

I want to talk a bit about some awesome stuff that i have seen and done recently.

I went to the Cicus Bookazine blog slam with Amelia ('s magazine) which was a somewhat unique experience. Can something be somewhat unique? yes. I wrote all about it and posted my sketchings here.

this is Bangs and a Bun - one of the contributing readers.

Then on the PeeGeeCeeEee I've been doing some arty project work with kids like this awesome London cityscape they made.
I am not very good at being a teacher yet, but it's early days.

Then on Thursday I attended the Make Space Studios open studios to help launch a design company I'm, i think the best word is affiliated, with Splash Graphic Design.

I love open studio events, (tho I have no desire to go to all of them - you can have too much of a good thing) you get all the different types of creatives hanging out together and you get exposed to things you wouldn't have seen otherwise. They're better than degree shows I think, although the standard of work is just as variable, because everyone that's there is really determined, or at least successful.

Some fun illustrators like Katie Leamon who does, you know, like birds and swirls and pretty stuff. I don't know whether Tom Leamon is her lover or her brother, I could find out but I prefer not to, but I super love his big eye prints check this out


hot eh?

I also got talking to some nice film makers at Unthank who are super aces. here is one of their videos.

Toy Cars & Grave Yards - an unthank ident from unthank on Vimeo.

I get a bit confused when i start putting other people's who are not me work up here, so here is something wot i made to finish off.

it is of celebrities.

last night i went to the solipsistic pop 2 launch. it was a pretty fun night, it wasn't super dull at all. i kept my adrenaline levels high by repeatedly talking to strangers and aquaintances, and tenuously connected people. It was nice to see Cliodhna and Jimi there, the zinecore. zinescenecore. yeah. possibly.

anyway. It was awesome and stuff, the book is a thing of beauty, i like the weird comics best, there are a few themes like childhood memories and serendipity snapshot, defining moment type stories. my faves in the comic are Sweet Mystery by Jack Noel, Mud by Matilda Tristram and the back page of the funnies by Joe Decie, who i love anyway. postives positives. it's all good. go comics. I talked to a tall boy called Tom, and he said maybe i can be in Solipsistic Pop 4. so that would be uber cool.

Also at the event was the famous comedien Robin Ince, he talked about comics and philosophy. and mooning. I enjoyed it, especially the bit about the stranger. I failed to draw him and missed his second bit because i was talking to Barny's brother.

This is the story of how i met Barny's Brother: he had only just walked in to the pub but i saw his face as i was coming back from making a phonecall to my friend clare. I asked him if he was Barny's brother, he said he was. we had not met previously. Later i talked to him again and recomended that he read Love and Rockets. sometimes i can be a bit agressively friendly when talking to strangers. I get this from my dad.

Also some musiciens played. this is dogtanioni met them after by mistake, although it didn't look like a mistake, tho it was. they were very nice. i have mentioned before that i am not a music journalist even a little bit, so i will say that i enjoyed their tunes and lyrics. At the bottom in a different blue you can see my aborted drawing of Robin Ince. It was aborted (at 20 weeks) because he stopped talking and left. i should have started earlier, but you know, what's life without regrets?
this is Tristsamor one of him, them, it. whatever. as you can see. he is pretty. his music was too.

Hi! here is a painting i did of a wood duck as part of a current bird-off i am having with awesomely talented nature illustrator Jamie Milk, i think it is my favourite thing i have done in ages, i should use more acrylic. or maybe just draw more ducks:
he is french.
I've been doing plenty much of the drawing in recent times, more Amelia's Magazine fashion loveliness like these amazing Lu Flux Lion Shoes (i mean the shoes are amazing, altho my drawing is not so few great shakes itself, wink wink.)
The facebook project, where i am drawing all of my friends in alphabetical order, currently at 14 down, 310 to go, i am trying not to accept or add too many new friends, but it goes against my basic friendly person (read attention whore) instincts.
this is alys, who i have known since i was a wee nipper. when i was doing my Art GCSE practical in the heady early summer of 2001, she told me i smelt crafty.

I've also done some simple line drawingy pictures for a prayer diary my mum wrote,

which was challenging and lovely, trying to produce something which translates well to a small black and white photocopy, i should keep the experience in mind for when i finally get round to a proper zine project.

thats how for now, exciting t-shirt based blog post coming soon.

i forgot! i was also featured in super awesome online zine (soon to be come real life printed zine)
Cut-Click - go have a goosey gander.

honestly. me. head. if wasn't sewn on. etc.

alright kids? some bad news recently, we got burgled and my laptop was stolen, luckily i had most stuff backed up like a good little girl, and since i re-invested most of my profits from the alternative press fair (it was super awesome) into lots of zines at least they didn't get their grubby mits on so much cash. But all the same need all the pennies for a new laptop so need to step up the attack. Still very much available for illustrating!

They didn't take any of the zines, don't know why.

here's me at APF, sporting the famous dissapointed sparrow t-shirt still available for one more week from tinyrun get them while they're hot.

(I also have a few left in the UK if your here and don't fancy the postage, especially if you are of the larger persuasion, as its mostly Ls and XLs, ifyou know what i mean as i'm sure you do)

the stuff on the right is Zarina's her stuff is crazy lovely!

other news on the horizon, not only did i do this fab illustration for Amelia (yes, that Amelia) of exciting band Man Like Me last week, but I also am lined up to do some fashion based illustrations this week as part of an awesome project she's doing as part of a blogy, illustrated, inovative coverage of London Fashion Week.

coming soon: curious owls.

i completed my tax return - go me!

in exciting news, Mr Michael Cianfrani aka @tinyrun is soon to produce an on demand t-shirt print run of my Sighing Sparrow image. Further details to follow.

in a few weeks also, i will be nipping along to the Alternative Press Fair 2010, with plentve Press Fair 2010, with plenty exciting valentines content, more of which will soon also be appearing in the shop. I also have plans for a new zine, but thats a secret for now.

here for your viewing pleasure, are some new collagey bird joy works, for Mail me Art 2 and Alturnative's 100 journals project respectively;

Merry!

so i went to the Xmas market a bit, it went variously. met lots of lovely people and saw some awesome stuff like cards by Jamie Littler, and other talented people from soupa and some Brighton people from the Permanent Bookshop - zines woo, and lots of other people who i will maybe talk about here when i get around to going through my little pile of business cards.

I also sent some what birds are really thinking and love books to Southampton zine and craft fair at the art house gallery, which apparently went down well.

things coming in the new year:

-fun times.

-me featuring on the brand spanking new multimedia-ey uber cool website the Sound of the Walls

-Driver Dan's Story Train first airing on CBBC in january - my episode will come in a few months and then i can post the artwork! - be excited and make it your child's - or your new favourite programme!

not quite in the new year but also to be featured on Tigerprint's awesome typepad blog on sunday, hi hi, blue skies if your visiting from the link! - have a look around i especially recomend the love and birds sections.

hope your christmas was merry, or your non-denominational bank holiday was fruitfull and nice.

Joys!