Keep your eyes peeled

I absolutely love street art. It's brightens up the bland, grey walls and buildings of the city, and maybe even makes me smile.
A site that has collected some of the best is worth a share:

And for some of those clever little observational types..

 

Sometimes it's good to just blend in...

I have a fascination with Peru at the moment being that I plan a trip there sometime soon. So it was with even more delight that I discovered that this body artist/ photographer was born in Lima, Peru. Her performances involve intricate design and detailed make up to her whole body in order to fit in with and become camouflaged to her background. In all she aims to virtually disappear and become one with her background. She says of her work,





"The illusion of 'disappearing' .. is a blending, she is now 'part of the landscape' in her quest of belonging. The theme behind it all is re-location after displacement and migration and how one has to adjust in order to belong. Tough it is, but it has to be done, without forgetting our origin."

The poses she puts herself in add to the drama, and where sometimes we see the whites of her eyes, you almost feel as if you are imposing on an intimate moment. However they are viewed, they are amazing.

Don't Bin it, Bring it!

Nice little stop frame animation by Rubber Republic for Recycle Now, letting people know they can recycle electrical goods across the UK. A battle between a bin and printer takes place, ending in a Star Wars style finale.

BP cares

As BP share prices are going down feeling the full brunt of their catastrophe, it seems appropriate for me to share with you this most amusing public backlash on the scandal. Created by Leroy Stick an identical 'Twitter' site from BP appears to make apologies to the public. The writer's dry wit is hilarious as he appears to make attempts to excuse BP. But he has a serious message behind it. In his words, he set it up "because BP is more concerned about saving face than they are about saving the coast".  He is one of many consumers I'm sure who are starting to really think about the brands they choose and what they stand for. he wants to get his message across to other Americans to really think about the Oil they putit in their cars everyday. He has also linked up with StreetGiant, who sell t-shirts as part of his Foundation he's setting up; a non-profit organization that will focus on funding publicity stunts and projects to direct attention towards corporate irresponsibility.
Follow his amusing twitterings here.

MoveMe

For any of you that travel on the Victoria Line, an organisation called Artbelow have taken over the space at Finsbury park Tube station. During my many minutes on the platform, I've been admiring some nice pieces of work by artists supporting the 'Move me' campaign to encourage people to Cycle. I'm already a bike lover so can appreciate the sentiments expressed, and hopefully others do too.






To view the complete exhibition, visit http://www.anythingmac.co.uk/artbelow/

Seasons e-greetings

Ahh, festivity is setting in now. I'm very excited but have the usual to-do lists running around my head bumping into each other and falling over, and so getting nowhere.. multiplied by ten. But I have a new venture to to dig my teeth into - card illustration. I've always loved making cards for friends and family, and last year even designed my own collections with the insane idea of launching them. But now my thought doesn't seem too far off. An online greeting's company setting up in the New year has asked me to design a collection. So i'm indulging in my passion for all things silly and doodling to my heart's content. I've also been researching the market to see what I'm up against. I have to share with you my favourites:



http://www.haroldsplanet.com/ecards/created_greetings/JnpdCvqtMx.html

I've always been a fan of Vimrod and the childish Pea Tree productions. I'd also encourage any of you to send their e-cards - They're fun, free and environmentally friendly!

http://www.haroldsplanet.com/ecards/categories_English.html

On the theme of environments, that leads nicely to another great not-for-profit idea set up by an old guru of mine Naresh Ramchandani, dothegreenthing.com
The site invites you to do one thing each month that is easy that can make a small but very worthwhile contribution to the planet in the reduction of CO2. You can also sign up for their weekly videos and be part of a whole community - some members competitivly trying to be the greenest. So I'm doing my bit and making a lot of my christmas presents this year. (sorry family- Hope you appreciate the love, care and time taken...money's a bit tight this year!)
Incidentally, if you haven't got round to writing your cards this year, send an amusing e-card from them too, and save our trees! (sounds good doesn't it?)