Congratulations go to Ben Hennessey, a 3rd year graphic design student at Nottingham Trent University who won 1st prize in the “stop-motion” category in a national competition for Channel 4 and Red Bull. He will be joining Aardman, of Wallace and Gromit fame, for a month long placement for his prize.

His winning animation has already been screened on Channel 4 and can be found here.

Ben commented: “I wanted to use a character that relates to Red Bull as a brand and after reading that squirrels get a big adrenaline rush from dogs chasing them up trees I thought they were ideal to base my film on.

“I entered the competition as I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to work with one of the world’s best animation companiesand I cannot wait to be working with Aardman. I know it’s going to be life changing and an amazing experience.”

“The rest of my idea came about by taking the can apart. Looking at each section of the can I thought about what I could turn it into. When I saw the curved sheet of metal I instantly thought about skateboarding and knew that Red Bull works with skateboarders so thought it would fit in perfectly with the brand.”

The inaugural Red Bull Canimation competition was a nationwide search for new creative talent, offering student and non-professional animators the chance to win internships at top animation studios Aardman, The Mill and 12foot6 among other prizes. The only rule was that the iconic blue and silver Red Bull can took centre stage.

Well done Ben – clearly a talent to watch out for!

Three Sisters by krossbow - http://www.flickr.com/photos/krossbow/434059766/

Things To Do

Be quick: there is also a large collection of paintings of the city from the 1880s until the 1930s by Nottingham artists Thomas Hammond. It ia part of a civic exhibition at the Council House (straight ahead as you leave the beach towards the east). The free exhibition is only open now from 11am until 5pm on Thursday and from 10am until 5pm on Friday.

Another inovation: the Nottingham Contemporary are holding their first Craft Market on Saturday, 6 August, featuring original work from 22 designers. Open from 11 to 6, free.

Further afield: The Harley Gallery exhibition Making Sense: Sensing Place, open now until 7 August, is showing artworks inspired by 5 artists’ visits between the UK, Bangladesh and India. Metal work by Steven Follen (UK), delicate paper artwork by Thurle Wright (UK), textiles by Lokesh Ghai (India), fine art by Tarun Ghosh (Bangladesh) and vibrant rickshaw paintings by Tapan Das (Bangladesh) make up this joint project from the V&A Museum of Childhood and The Harley Gallery.

Something To Think About

A long and interesting interview in Nottingham Visual Arts, explains the background to a new space, Primary. It claims to be the “first dedicated, permanent artist studios in Nottingham, supporting the development and production of contemporary visual art in the city”.

Some things to Celebrate

James Melia and his Kink lamp - courtesy NTU Press Office

Furniture and product design student James Melia won the Lighting Designer of the Year award, in the Student Lighting Design Awards, with Gregg Parsell and Sam Aylott claiming second and third prize respectively. Two other NTU students were finalists: Joe White, Kanako Anahara. This is the second year NTU have taken first prize.  Last year’s winner, for those who have forgotten, was John Etherington.

Two NTU students won awards at the Graduate Fashion Week recently. Rory Longdon has the George Gold Award and Wonjee Chung the Stuart Peters Visionary Knitwear Award.  Both are from the School  of Art and Design.

For all of you, Guest Blogging slots could be available – get in touch!

A striking wingback chair sits to one side of the Nottingham Trent University Textiles degree show. Covered with cream cotton sateen with a pattern of black and white sketches of flowers, letters, stamps and people, it combines elegance and personality. The backdrop of wallpaper explains more about the nostalgic principles that informed the design.

“These are all pictures of my family,” explains Tracey Jones, who designed and printed the fabric and wallpaper. “As a designer, my strengths lie in drawing, exploring a variety of media to create visually stimulating and diverse imagery. Inspired by memories of ‘times gone by’ I am heavily influenced by the concept of Nostalgia. It is this interest that has led me to my final project, encapsulating memories of my own family memorabilia to bring a personal element to my designs.”

The designs are a combination of sketches, heat transfer, collagraphs, screen and digital printing, manipulated using CAD. Tracey found a vintage wingback chair and worked with an upholsterer to ensure that the designs sat in the right place on it. The result is a perfect marriage of vintage design with a modern appeal, and is available for sale for £1,700. *empties piggybank*

“The design is in a neutral colour palette throughout, which I feel will appeal to a sophisticated high-end market. I want to start a business that incorporates people’s own memorabilia into bespoke items.”

Tracey is continuing to make more bespoke armchairs and can be contacted through her blog.

Few designs in the degree shows feature designs for children and, if we’re honest, it’s something we rarely cover ourselves at Creative Nottingham. Yet there are so many possibilities for being creative for and with children, and it’s one reason why Emma Pyrah’s stand at the degree show leapt out at me as we walked round.

Emma uses hand drawn illustrations digitally printed onto cotton and embroidered to make a series of educational and fun accessories for children’s bedrooms. Her theme is food and has made a range of cushions, bean bags, prints and quilts in the shape of different foodstuffs ranging from packets of icing sugar to frozen peas. Emma’s range even includes a mini fabric shopping basket and food items for children to learn through fun role play. The majority of the range covers fruit and vegetables (with nutritional label attached) promoting the current trend in eating a healthy balanced diet and getting your five a day. The entire stand is bright and exciting to look at and Emma’s products also caught the eye many young adults who showed great interest in accessorizing their homes with a huge peas beanbag or strawberry cushion. One little girl passing in the arms of her father gasped with joy to see the giant quilt with detachable strawberries so Emma’s clearly got her market down pat.

Emma is based in Nottinghamshire and is exhibiting her new range at New Designers, Earls Court London from 29th June – 2nd July and already has exciting ideas for new additions to the her collection. She is also available for freelance and commissioned work, as well as selling her fruit and vegetables through her online shop.

Three Fashion Communication and Promotion undergraduates from Nottingham Trent University won the UK Finals to the L’Oréal Brandstorm competition in London last month, and will be competing in the world finals in Paris today and tomorrow.

As a student at NTU myself, I do experience a sort of vicarious satisfaction when I find out that fellow students are doing well for themselves.  And they really are doing well – NTU students have come either first or second place in the UK finals for this competition seven times since 2005, taking both the first and second place prizes this year, alongside a separate award for innovation.

The students – Abigail Frieslander, Angel Nicholls and Rachael Plowright, under the brand name PAUSE – won the brief for ‘creatively revolutionising the male experience of hair salons’ with a product range consisting of a three-step shaving system and two haircare products.  Their unique selling point was to pause facial hair regrowth, pause hair loss, and pause the effects of ageing with the use of multi-action products, including Slow Growth Shave Gel which apparently features a plant extract which targets enzymes responsible for regulating hair growth.

In Paris the three students will be defending their approach face-to-face with top L’Oréal executives for a chance to win €10,000 and a trip to the city of their choice.  Best of luck to them!

Helen Crump's beautiful and witty pottery sewing tray - on sale at Da3

So you may have seen earlier this week that the government has called in celebrity retail expert and queen of glam Mary Portas to examine our drab and half empty high streets. But I’m not sure that we need her in Nottingham. Consider, if you will, the evidence…

First up, our friends at Curiosity Haus are holding one of their fantastic craft fairs on Saturday, featuring a whole host of very talented types and their delicious wares. This month it’s being held at The Orange Tree Pub, on  Shakespeare Street from 12noon till 5pm. Here at Creative Nottingham we all have our favourites and mine is the work of my erstwhile colleague Kate Broughton so make sure you check our her new range of garden themed cards and gifts. The Curiosity Haus fair is a birthday celebration as Curiosity Haus have been bringing crafty talents to Nottingham for two years now! Happy Birthday Curiosity Haus!

Slap bang in the city centre sits pop up shop Da3. What’s a pop up shop, I hear you say? Well, in this case, Nottingham Trent University students have taken over an empty city centre retail space as part of their final year module on live trading. It’s full of a whole host of crafty items, including many made by the students as part of their Decorative Arts degree. I popped in this week to have a look round and a chat and was really impressed and jealous! The shop features work by students, graduates and local crafters and offers students a taste of trading in the “real world”.

“It’s been a really positive experience,” they told me. (They were Sophie Whittle, Kat James and Stacey Lapper

Sophie, Kat & Stacey at work in Da3 as reflected in Chloe Blount's reclaimed vintage mirror

) “We’ve had a lot of footfall and some people have come in specially. Even if people haven’t bought anything, they’ve really liked the work out on display and we’ve learnt so much.”

The shop has attracted visits from local traders looking to stock their goods and is only open until 6th June. I’d venture so far as to say there’s something for everyone – textiles, ceramics, furnishings, clothing. A strong vintage and recycling theme runs through much of the work which does perhaps reflect the current vogue but also gives the pieces a timeless feel. The shop is on Lower Parliament Street, near the Victoria Centre entrance and is open Wednesday-Saturday. Get down there and have a good look round!

Finally, Kathleen and Lily’s are having a final *sniff* clearance everything must go type sale this weekend. Fill carrier bags for just £3! I know! But please save something for those of us who can’t get there till Sunday. Kathleen and Liily’s can be found at 205 Mansfield Road.

So there you have it! Get to Nottingham, Ms Portas, and we’ll show you a thing or two about good shopping. In the meantime have a good weekend all…

Well the holidays are over, for now – but what a marvelous thing to have a week ‘bookended’ by bank holidays – might even be rarer than a solar eclipse!  Hopefully you made the most of it (if you had the opportunity).

Now it’s back to work, but at least we still have the beautiful sunshine to maintain some ‘happy’ hormones, before the rain comes.

Fear not, this is not intended to be a prediction of the weather – but the near future for Nottingham is looking even brighter (spiritually, at least) – as there are plenty of arty and cultural activities to keep us all occupied over the coming week.

Here’s a brief round-up of just some of these events:

Fluorescent Sheep

Date and time: 3rd – 14th May. Open Tues-Fri 12-6. Sat 11-5. (Private View: 5th May 6-8pm)
The venue: Surface Gallery

This entirely volunteer–run gallery has yet another intriguing collaboration to offer lovers of contemporary art…(picture above courtesy of the Surface Gallery website).

This curiously titled exhibition, alone, is enough to entice me for a visit. If only to answer one question - will there be any formaldehyde sheep?  We’ll have to go and see for ourselves, but it promises to be a fascinating exhibition, with or without – so move over Damien Hirst!

More details can be found on the Surface Gallery website.

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Unveiling

Date and time: Private view 6th May – (6pm to 9pm). Runs until 28th May 2011
The venue: The Crocus Gallery

Another group exhibition of the ‘multi-disciplinary’ kind is on display from 6th May at Crocus Gallery – a venue that in the year since its launch, has fast grown its reputation for creativity with genuine community spirit.

“‘Unveiling’ features a diverse range of works from photography to installation. Representations range through physical decay to emotional trauma.”

We would less easily recognise the good things in life, without the bad that we also experience from time-to-time - it may also be possible to see beauty in decay. This thought-provoking exhibition is likely to ensure we take an inward look, to help us find out.

‘Unveiling’ will run alongside the current exhibition to celebrate the Gallery’s first birthday.

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Karin Kihlberg and Reuben Henry
Consequence of Retrospect

Date and time: 7th May (Opens at 18:00) - 4th June
The venue: Trade Gallery

“Taking a selection of video artworks from the last seven years of collective practice the exhibition Karin Kihlberg & Reuben Henry -  ‘Consequence of Retrospect’; draws together a series of artworks that use cinematic devices, forms and structures as departure points for exploring relationships between the viewer and the (moving) image. ” (Descrption from the Trade Gallery website).

Opening times can be found on the website.

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Also this Saturday:

May Fest

Date and time: 7th May from 11am to 5.30pm
The venue: The University of Nottingham

This is a day of free, fun and activities for all ages and interests. The event last year was fascinating and gave a real insight into many of the great research projects in progress at the University.  It promises to be a wonderfully creative way to find out about science – through fun activities and experimentation.  So, get your ‘inquisitive’ hat on, and head down to the city centre campus this weekend.

More details can be found on The University of Nottingham website.

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Later this month we see the arrival of ‘Neat 11’ – the Nottingham European Arts and Theatre Festival – more about this one nearer the date – but if you’d like to get in early and guarantee your seats, you can now book tickets online.

Turning the tide…
It is surely up to us creatives to learn to be tough these days – to fight to make positive change and weather the storm within the most demanding climates… Here in the land of fire and ice I got a bit carried away and found myself illustrating the concept a little too literally…

It sounded a great idea a few months ago but as the day loomed closer and I became acquainted with the intensity of weather in Reykjavik, I began to realise that even the thought of swimming in the Icelandic ocean is a bit ridiculous. Apparently the secret is to acclimatise oneself gradually from summer through to winter, but I just had to wing it on a snowy day and jump on in there. I wasn’t on my own, as (wise) Icelandic colleague Fjola documented the event from the shoreline and Danish colleague Thomas (who’s wonderful idea it was in the first place) swum as well.

The first surprise arrived when I hit the water and immediately began to hyperventilate uncontrollably. I got a handle of this and then discovered a peculiar sensation rather like being covered in a anaesthetizing cling-film like substance whilst simultaneously stabbed by needles as my body frantically questioned what the hell I was doing to it. This was just the initial shock and after a few moments I found I was swimming quite happily – quite deliriously in fact – until I could feel my legs no more so hobbled unsteadily with very numb feet out of the ocean and in to a nearby hot-tub to defrost. As my body began to make sense again I felt incredibly alive, exhilarated and rather chuffed at managing to complete the mission with dignity intact and colleagues impressed that I had not backed out, screamed or sunk. It was an amazing experience, but I might wear a wetsuit next time.

The Valkyries Return – Eternal Spirits Photoshoot
In the meantime, photographer Marcus Holdsworth arrives today to prepare for the shoot on Friday. The vision – Eternal Spirits rising out of the ashes of a wasteland into a brave new World, features an awe-inspiring signature collection hot off the press from Nottinghams UK Queen of Corsetry Susi Henson. The project has quickly developed from conception over a glass of wine in Nottingham (as many of the best ideas do!) into a unity of current fact and traditional folklore which promises to illustrate the power design has to forge opportunity amidst uncertain times. Multi-disciplinary skills spanning design and academia from Nottingham and Reykjavik have been called into play and all hands have been on deck to get the preparation sorted in good time. Now everything is set and all we can do is talk about the weather – after all in Iceland absolutely anything could happen. With Valkyries involved as an inspiration we are anticipating some dramatic shots…

Cool Design
My key work here which everything has stemmed from has been the ‘Stage It’ Project with Reykjavik University, Nottingham University and three International Businesses (click here for explanation) led by inspirational Research Fellow Dr Marina Candi, and as part of my activity I have been discovering possible links with Icelandic art and design. A real high point was when visiting the Museum of Modern Art. I wandered into an exhibition being set up by a very cool and rather renowned artist, Shoplifter (aka Hrafnhildur Arnardottir) . As she was showing Fjola and I designs worn by Lady Gaga and commissioned by Bjork for her album cover, much of which entail the sculpture of human and synthetic hair – Hrafnhildur explained that she creates her work to have both the aaah (as in wow) and the ewww (as in ewww!) factors. It was definitely aaah from me and I especially love the piece she did for Museum of Modern Art New York for the Design Week – have a look for yourselves.

Icelandic Food
Surprisingly as a non fish eating vegetarian in a place which specialises in rotten shark and a strange type of lobster I’ve found lots of lovely new tastes. Even so, I just had to introduce the classic ‘chip butty with cheese’ to the country – the bar I approached looked quite perplexed at first but then did a fine job – no reason not to visit now!

Meanwhile at the Davenport Shop of Originality

There’s loads going on – collections in from Patrick Turk, Loomtime, Miss Ladysmith and more – new creative lions preparing to launch and the ever changing window seems to be going down a treat… Remember to follow the shop on Facebook and to pop in and say hello when passing…

Signing out – evidently rather inspired by Iceland… Sarah Davenport xxx

Nottingham Design In Iceland Part 1

Firstly can I point out that they tricked me? When I arrived on my shorter visit in January to prepare for the longer visit I’m on now, the weather was hotter and sunnier than Nottingham. I smugly packed English weather clothes (and possibly the odd bikini in an optimistic moment) only to find when I arrived it was minus 10 and…well…erm… rather icy. I suppose the name gave it away…

I’m not complaining – its pretty awe-inspiring to be right here in the place nature uses to stretch her muscles. Earthquakes are normal, I am practically sat on a volcano as I write, literally have my head in the clouds, a tectonic plate is not far off and all around me geysers explode, waterfalls crescendo, the northern lights dance and the weather shifts its focus at the speed of Imelda Marcos on a shoe-changing-record-breaking mission. It’s magical, powerful and I find it interesting to realise that I normally go about my daily life in Nottingham completely oblivious to such beauty occurring only a couple of hours flight away.

What I found most unexpected about Iceland is that the city is by far the most unique I’ve visited. The crash chased off the big players we are accustomed to seeing on every street corner a while ago – and though some remain they are hidden away in the deep dark depths of a mall somewhere. In their place Reykjavik thrives with unique independent boutiques – original design, niche creative spaces, exhibition spots and studios all with something individual and fresh to shout about. There’s an energetic mood in the air and the main street, Laugavegar is like one gigantic Broad Street of bustling coffee houses and design bars. Amidst economic disaster, creativity has found a way to pioneer new solutions and it’s brilliant to see.

Right now I’m sitting at my little desk in the Reykjavik University. The building is designed around the solar system and I work in Mars! (Feel the force??!) I have been officially seconded here for the past few months on a research project with Nottingham University, Reykjavik University, an online gaming company from Denmark and a multimedia company from Birmingham, so we’re a real mixed bag and I’m enjoying working with people who are so passionate and focused in such different areas. When I’m not working or socialising, I’ve revelled in the opportunity to enjoy some luxury quiet time in my design apartment (Apartment K) which is located in the centre of the hippest area of Reykjavik. It has all mod cons (including English Satellite TV!), a healthy input of Dutch Design, free films, a power shower, a dishwasher and a gloss bright green floor – what more could a girl alone in a strange city wish for! I have heard mention of a Jacuzzi somewhere aroundabout which I’ll go hunting for once the novelty of the room has worn off.

Of course, we absolutely couldn’t resist but to create a challenging Nottingham Design project as a result of me being here. As I write, Queen of Corsetry Susi Henson of Eternal Spirits is vigorously creating a new signature collection inspired by Iceland and our resident photographer Marcus Holdsworth is booked on a flight over here to shoot it. The vision for the piece is ‘Eternal Spirits rising out of the ashes of a wasteland into a brave new World’ so it should be pretty spectacular. My colleague Fjola Bjork Hauksdottir and I have collaborated on co-ordination and yesterday we booked ubercool stylist Steinunn and a stunning icelandic model Maria .

It is near impossible to anticipate exact location as the weather is so unpredictable, but we have a few places in mind – black sand beaches, volcanic wasteland and mineral caves included. We are aware that however much preparation we do, on the day we will be consistently working to the mercy of nature, and the secret (so I’m told) is to remain flexible and embrace whatever kind of material we find we have to work with. I’ll be posting the results on my final blog so watch this space.

Meanwhile in Nottingham… whilst the cat is away the other cats are playing – there are no mice in the Davenport Shop of Originality. In-house Lionesses Miggi and Alichichi appear to have found an extra-special burst of energy and I keep hearing strange stories from the shop; creatives running amok, new designs in, an ever changing window… and more. I’m not sure I’ll even recognise it on my return! There is a tiny chance they might miss me a little bit so if you are passing the Flying Horse Walk please pop in to say hello… and if you tell them you’ve come from the blog they might even give you a chocolate biscuit

Some bits you might be interested to get involved with whilst I’m away…

1: In the midst of all of this, our hearts go out to those in Japan suffering the effects of the Tsunami. We will of course be organising a fundraiser when I get back. If you’d like to get involved or have any ideas please email alicia@davenportinteriors.co.uk

2. Icelandic colleague Fjola is moving to work with us in Nottingham for 18 months! She’ll be arriving in May and needs to find a two bedroom house/apartment near town (poss Carrington/The Park?) fully furnished, with garden and allowing two very lovely well-behaved doggies. Any ideas???

3: Whilst I’m here I really would like to have a cup of coffee with Bjork. Does anybody have her number?

My next report will describe what its like to swim in the Icelandic sea… if I survive it. Thank goodness I packed that bikini!!!

Signing out – all the beast!

Sarah Davenport xxx

Follow Sarahs adventures on facebook… facebook.com/TheDavenportShopofOriginality
Twitter… twitter.com/Sarah_Davenport

Spring has nearly sprung. I’ll be glad when it finally does – wandering round Nottingham in the wet with a stinking cold is not a lot of fun, make no mistake! For this round up, there’s a smattering of the literary, the visually pleasing and the crafty…

Scribo, Ergo, Sum

I write, therefore I am… To many budding writers, this would be a mantra to live by, and that was certainly the case for Adam Charles, whose novel would lie unwritten in his head no longer. But after sending it out to publishers and receiving knockback after knockback, Adam decided that this state of affairs would not do. The problem was that amongst all the rejection slips, there was nothing there to help him hone his craft – no indication of what might have gone wrong, and what might turn yesterday’s pulp fiction into tomorrow’s modern classic. In his own words:

A couple of years ago I eventually hit upon an idea. If the professionals can’t tell me, then how can technology help me to find out whether my work is any good or not?  I trawled the internet but couldn’t find anything that I could use for these objectives.  This is where the first seed began to grow for our new website for unpublished writers - www.iwritereadrate.com

Adam has written a great article over on LeftLion about the genesis of his site and the thinking behind it. It looks to be one more great resource to tap into if you are struggling to get your zom-rom-com-meta-novel written in the second person out to publication.

Logogo!

You may have seen on Twitter over this week that Nott Tuesday have a new logo in the offing. It’s a highly recognisable graphic, and I especially like the visual pun of the bright sparks, reflecting the prevalence of talent in our fine city. Congrats to them and to Touch Design, the company behind the updated logo!

UPDATE! Thanks to Nick Barker for clarifying that this is not, in fact, the final logo. Nott Tuesday are running a logo competition to try to settle on the best identity for them – check out the Nott Tuesday site to see what else comes in, and let them know what your thoughts are!

Knitwear? Kneewear!

Ok, that one is pretty tenuous, sorry about that. What it refers to is a lecture you might be interested in if you’re a crafty type. Professor of Knitting Tilak Dias is presenting “Evolutionary Pathways of Knits: From Fashion Knitwear to Medical and Smart Textiles” 6pm next Monday, 28th Feb, at NTU’s Newton Building.