Nosideup: barcelona

19.7.10 1

Nosideup shop: new, new, new!

Dear everyone, as promised Nosideup is back up, and so much has been happening in there!
You can now find a lot of rather abstract paintings I made in Barcelona. Most of these are made with liquid watercolors, a marvelous condensed pigment that leaves a velety finish and, lots of the time, unexpected hues and textures.
These paintings are mostly explorations of colors and finishes, and have amazingly subtle pigmentation and feeling.
In the next few days I plan to add Paperbling to Nosideup and have it all uner one (virtual) roof.
I hope you enjoy the changes, and please let me know what you think!

19.5.10 1

Amandine Pierne

Last Friday I went to Swab and one I found out about Amadine's work. I was in awe. Her ideas are simple, based on daily objects, but she reconstructs them in a new way.

Imges: marker-painted kitchen roll, puzzle hoops, classified conffetti, beaded sleeping bag.

16.5.10 0

The good, the good and the ugly: the plain ugly and nasty

You might have noticed I've been putting this post off badly. It just makes me so sad to be writing this. Last weekend there was a party in my neighbourghood. All the sellers had their stuff out in the streets, it was lovely. Mr. M. and I were strolling about when he just went: Have you seen those?! And there they were: my bags, the bags that I have been seeing in different versions sprounting all over the place. I've now gone from "it must be coincidence" to "I want their heads". These bags are such a blatant copy that I can't help but feeling badly hurt. Worst thing is, they are from a very small young Italian company (or so the girl in the shop said). We can't seem to find them, but I think I will prosecute them. Shame on them for taking the stuff ofa student off the net and selling it down her road. They charge pretty much the same I charge for an original for bad industrially produced ones. They must feel proud and creative.
Sorry about the rant. I knew it was not going to be nice.

10.5.10 0

The Good, the Good and the Ugly: the good - Denys Blaker

Hi everyone.

I've been super busy this weekend and I must say it's been a fabulous collection of days.

So I've got three posts to explain these to you: the good, the good and the ugly (why can't anyone have two days in peace?).

Well, good post number one is about Denys Blacker.

Denys trained as a sculptor and slowly started introducing her body in her work (this even happened literally), developing into a performance artist.

She was performing in Barcelona this weekend and I had the pleasure of being introduced to her. She was showing her heart/mind sculptures, a series of ceramic objects to be used to project goodwill and healing to other people and oneself. It was very poetical.

She also organizes a performance festival in her village every year, where everyone takes part.

Impressive, huh?

24.4.10 0

The bad conscience

It's been 10 days since my last post and my bad conscience is killing me. I don't even know how this has happened. I guess that I've had so many things going on that I haven't even known how to get back on blog track. So, here's the last few days:

-Basically, Mr. M. and I have learnt it's moving time again (most probably). This makes us happy for all the new possibilities, but we feel that Barcelona has been really awesome to us, and feel like our time here has been so short.

-This has also leads to having to act upon the future of my education. We'll see how that goes.

-I've also learnt to paint with liquid watercolours rather than acrylics and I'm in a very blissful Rothko fase. Pictures to come.

-My vegan heart does not take the zoo drawing lessons that well anymore. But I've developed a new personal style.

-Spring isn't quite happening yet.

-I've cut my hair so short I still don't recognize myself in the mirror.

-Fantastic Mr Fox only opened in cinemas now and we loved it.

-Alice in Wonderland did not meet expectatives.

I'm hopefully back now!

17.3.10 0

Herstories

This semester I'm taking Art Theory and we've started off with the sexuation of education. The professor made it very clear from the first day she was an active feminist (of the difference theory). She believes that since everything we know we learn and experience through our bodies, men and women feel, learn and live differently. I think that's a very interesting theory, maybe not so much because of the difference it declares, but because of the acknowledging of a physicality of wisdom.

Ever since I've been reading the engaging with this topic, I've felt ackward. I have felt angry at the blatant discriminations, but at the same time I've felt kind of torn when presented with "women only" activities. I've understood that females are 90 % of the student body of the faculty and that should be felt somehow. And I've wondered how often are we taught about female artists.

I don't know what I intend to say, really. I have figured out I tend to connect more deeply and more often with female creators (musicians, visual artists). It might just be that the way they put the stories is easier for me to comprehend. It might be that they say things I want to hear.

I have recently been thinking about the words we use to define all this mess. Do you know when kids are bought clothes that are a bit too big for them because they grow so fast they will eventually grow big enough for them? In Catalan and in Spanish they are called something like "growing clothes" or "growable clothes". I wonder if there's such a thing in English. Well, what if there are "growing words"? Words that are a bit too large for you right now, but that you know you will eventually get to fill up and understand completely. Words like feminism or patriarchate. I feel like an impostor using them at the moment, but that might change with time.

The one thing I'd like to put out there is, can the word feminist describe the women of my generation? Has it too much of a baggage? Too many connotations? Too worn out, maybe? Again, I might grow into the word, into its size; but then again it might be the wrong kind of cut for me altogether.

Any thoughts? Any reading recommendations?

PS: Picture via PaperTissue. Wonder where it is from...

4.3.10 0

Lúa Coderch

Lúa and I met at "Una Escola Tropical" (A tropical school), a weekend course in Terrassa.

I just found her full portfolio, and I find her work very stimulating and poetical.

She pushes her ideas to their consequential edge.

Here are a few examples of her series "Paroxism of Reading":

"Classifying Joyce"

(picking every single word out of Ulysses and classifying them alphabetically)

(image above, "Erasing Proust": erasing a page out of "La Rechérche" until the minimum "aroma" of the text is left).

1.3.10 1

At the zoo!

This is a hard one.

This semester half of my drawing lessons are going to be at the zoo.

Now, as a vegan, I feared that I'd find it hard to swallow.

But the truth is, I have not seen mistreated animals (admitedly the big felines didn't seem very lively); and it's been well, fun! and challenging, too.

You see, the last semester we had endless (a class is 3 hrs long) amounts of fun drawing toga-ed up statues and architectural elements and vegetables (which I liked the most). All, with no pictures or rulers or any other accessory than eyes and hands.

I look forward to understanding better how zoos work and how I feel about them, and, in the meanwhile, draw a lot.

(I befriended a goat which seemed to really like my coat; a great, wise turtle sniffed me out and decided to walk away; a vulture as tall as me kind of charged towards me, a dolphin pooed right on my face (there was glass in between us), flamingos wore fluorescent feathers; and hippos had really tiny legs)

24.2.10 2

The Offer

Another strange painting.

(First watercolour attempt, and I liked them very much, actually)

I promise this is a happy painting despite all the gore!

Teacher feedback: boring, too symetrical.

Failing harder, all the way :)

3.2.10 0

the only thing I can't resist...

... is temptation.

5.12.09 0

Casa Asia

Mr M and I have had a hyper cultural Saturday.

We've started at Casa Asia (which is what I really want to tell you about) and then gone to almost every gallery and exhibition available in Barcelona at the moment.

But the thing, Casa Asia is located at the Palau del Baró de Quadras by Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

Now, the place is AMAZING. Totally mind-blowing. It was like a garden turned into a building. The walls still had murals of trees and flowers. The stone was all carved into floral motives. Doors had huge metal panels with relieves on them. Even the little window handles had flowers on them!

Plus, there was an exhibition on Art and Aids, mostly from Thai artists. That was quite interesting to see in order to compare culural view points. Nevermind the first-floor exhibition of Asian textiles (the display was tremendously poor).

If you are ever in Barcelona, do not miss the building (entrance is free)

11.11.09 1

Souvenir effect

Sunday is (pretty much) free Museum day in Barcelona (super awesome, I know).

So Mr. M. and I did a small tour around whatever is on today.

We went to the design hub to see the "souvenir effect" exhibition. Now, I´m telling you this because that was almost a design theory exhibition. It was not only about the objects themselves (souvenirs) but rather about the symbology of it, the rituals of tourists, the future and its alternatives. It was a great way to present such aspect of design to the public, given that usually design shows are more like: "that´s a great chair" or "the first toaster that talks".

Shame that it did not go as deep as it could have gone. It was a big show but very "light". And you got a mini computer to consult along the exhibition, shame that this incredible display of originality became a bit pointless and gimmicky because the computer added nothing much to the printed information provided.

31.10.09 0

I was just passing by...

.. and thought I'd say hi.
It's been a great, mad week.
It's been Mr M.'s and mine birthdays (I love that we were born 24hrs appart!), and we've had our families in out teeny tiny flat for lunch today. Proper awesome, and grown up!
Also, I am LOOOOOVING my painting lessons, more than anything. Iwould have never guessed that would be my favourite subject, but hey, such is life. It's mostly down to our teacher, who has a very particular teaching system. His color theory is just mind-blowing. I swear I can now see colors i did not see before. Imagine that.
I have tons I want to post, so fear not, I'll be more constant than this past days :)

PS: Need to prepare a lunch for 10 people, including your other half's family?
Veganomicom IS the book.

22.10.09 0

Hanging Henry

We found this AWESOME tray wit ver colorful Henry VIII in a local thrift store.

He's about to be hung from our walls!

12.10.09 0

The jazz century

(art by Albert Alexander Smith)

(art by Marvin Israel)

Never thought I'd like this exhibition as much as I did. It was built so that on one side you had a timeline of jazz covers and news, and on the other side the art that was inspired by it. I found out some names I didn't know, although they could have dared adding more information on the political side.

(art by David Stone Martin)

The website has a lot of what's shown, so if you want to see it, click here.

Lovely and about to finish. If you are around, pop in (free on Sunday afternoons!)

28.9.09 0

Fireluche orchestra

I discovered this group in the Merce festivity (biggest event in Barcelona, loads and loads of free cultural events everywhere. Very, very worth it!).
They were on a merry-go-round -like structure and their music was really, really magic. If you could describe an ideal of childhood, full of fairy-tales, it would sound like this.
Enjoy!

2

A memory for the future

The first day in Painting class, the teacher said "you are to do a painting, anything, whatever can make you look best as artists". Oh dear, I thought. I hadn't really painted before. When I actually sketched the thing I started colouring in with some sort of flesh colored concotion of paint and well, it was NOT good. So I decided I wasn't gonna pretend I knew how to paint. i'd invent a way. And this is what happened in the end.

This is a note to my future graduate self: hope you are doing it better now!

PS: notice I never worked in paper as big as this and the perspective is not correct (it was from were I was sitting :D)

14.9.09 0

Happily doomed

Oh dear,
today was my first day of school, only that no teacher turned up. Uh uh.
I had been warned this was not like in the UK, but I don't think I was ready. Well, I've met quite a lot of new people (and quite good people they seem to be), so we are all together in this. It has quite a community feeling already (all the hours waiting for teachers to come are meant to bond somehow). So somehow, welldone for today.

Plus!
I've reopened my shops and I am over the moon. I have not been forgotten!
To everbody who has been waiting for me: THANKS! (in big capitals).
You'll find free shipping in nosideup to celebrate the anniversary of the shop. :)
And Paper and Stitch readers will have a little extra offer.
I'm very happy to be back!

13.9.09 1

loving gracia

Gracia means grace in Catalan. And i now live in Gracia, in Barcelona. This neighbourhood is so made to our measure we cannot help but approve as we discover charming places in every corner. Internet connexion not available in the flat yet, as you might have noticed.

And now i'm off to re-open the shop and get back to work (I'm back to school tomorrow, apparently).

8.9.09 0

What to expect when you are expecting...

... your ikea furniture to be delivered.

I thought I was done with the waiting... but NO! I now need to wait for my stuff to be delivered and for IKEA to receive some stuff they didn't have yesterday. But seems like we'll be able to have a lovely weekend sorrounded by screws and instruction sheets! (no irony here, I am looking forward to it!).

The Flat is now painted (The "hall", a.k.a. the corridor in front of the main door was blood-red and Mr. M's studio was the same color too; we've left the kitchen and the 2nd corridor "bloody") and full, VERY FULL of tings that need shelves and cases and palces to be put on.

In the meanwhile, I'm trying to guess when does my course start (do not compare Britsh organizational skills with Spanish ones), and trying to get a phone/internet line to get Etsy going again. Oh, and playing a lot of Uno and Ingenious (this last one is seriously addictive).

PS: I am HOPEFULLY reopening the shop this weekend. I seriously cannot wait. I'm planning to have some offers to celebrate that's now a year old! So if you were left wondering about the bags or the hair portraits a while ago, now it's the time!