Craft a curious beetle

From bees to bugs...

If you’ve read our latest StyleCurious post on Anna Collette Hunt’s curious infestation, you may have been wondering about the app we mentioned. We’re pleased to inform you that the Stirring the Swarm iPhone or iPad app is now available to download free here:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/stirring-the-swarm/id499841767?ls=1&mt=8

The app was developed with funding Anna received from Made in the Middle. It features her original story alongside images of the first installation. There’s also a tour schedule, providing information on where you can see the Swarm exhibition. And the app also has a secret section, which can only be unlocked at the shows, to trigger interactive activity.


My favourite feature is the app’s “beetle builder activity, where users can create their own magical hybrid insects from mixing and matching ceramic body parts, combined with hand drawn elements which were part of the research for the project.” It’s great fun designing and naming your own insect, and uploading it to the online Facebook gallery. Anna hopes to use these insects to create a viral swarm - an online infestation to mirror the physical body of work.

Both the Stirring the Swarm ceramic installation and the new app will appear in an upcoming experimental exhibition at the National Craft and Design Centre, called Concrete Canvas, which is inspired by the online phenomenon of geocaching.





Meantime, an exclusive selection of Anna’s work is available at ShopCurious, including beetle brooches, insect trophies and boxed sets of ceramic curiosities. Each piece is a totally unique, handcrafted work of art – and also collectable as a memento of Anna’s award winning installation. Of course, you can always create your own souvenir (or even your own swarm) using the curiously cool beetle building app…

Will you?

Fashionable fine art...

Despite the contemporary design of its Chelsea home, Heatherley’s School of Fine Art is fairly traditional in approach – at least that’s the impression I got from my visit to preview the Annual Exhibition, which starts today. I was invited by my neighbour, Patrick Earle, who has just completed a portrait diploma at London’s oldest independent art school. His works stretch the boundaries of Heatherley’s tried and tested painting techniques to handsome effect. Amongst his exhibits, Earle bares his soul in a curiously clever self portrait - inviting us into his inner world, to share his absorbing love of painting.


Even further removed from a prescribed formula, and closer to fashionable trends of the art and design world, is a series of works by Caroline Weir. Combining found objects with musical forms, old dolls, bones, skulls, anatomical specimens and charred embers, Weir has captured a number of current themes.

















She’s even created a rudimentary automaton called The Tapper, which brings to life an old 'cello case.

ShopCurious particularly likes Hell’s Kitchen, which showcases Weir’s accomplished ceramic sculptures in conjunction with a retro cooker… and Tabasco Sauce bottle.





































The show is open until Saturday 23rd. Do get along to see it.

Will you?

Animal instinct and curiosities of human nature

Us humans have a strange affinity with animals – on the one hand we keep them as pets, but on the other, we eat them. Still, we like to think of animals as our friends - after all, they are our distant relatives – and this is increasingly evident in our treatment of all creatures great and small, especially in design art and home furnishings.






Along with our recreations of wild beasts in wood, clay and papier mache, come those in cotton and wool – yes, animal inspired clothing and accessories are appearing everywhere too.











An even more curious trend is our growing desire to share our homes with dead animals in the form of vintage taxidermy.











If you’re a little squeamish, you may prefer something a little less realistic, like this curiously collectable Japanese style, blue-glazed, retro ceramic monkey family from ShopCurious (below).








Alternatively, you may wish to feast your eyes on the fine collection of stuffed animals at the Musee de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, reviewed in my post today at The Dabbler.










Do you?

A very curious egg

With Easter almost upon us, I thought it appropriate to mention a very curious egg by way of introduction to our new theme of ‘immortality’. For those who aren’t religious, there’s always the chance of an afterlife, simply by becoming the stuff of legend. Legendary figures such as dragons certainly seem to live forever.

Our latest curiosity is a genuine - okay, original vintage ceramic, dragon’s egg. This characterful little fellow comes courtesy of Chessell Pottery: a small concern, started in 1978, in a converted barn in the Isle of Wight, by John and Sheila Francis. Formerly lecturers in ceramics at the Commonwealth Universities of East and West Africa, the duo's designs are largely based on observations from nature. The hatching dragon was especially introduced for the 2000 Millennium year. (Incidentally, the next Year of the Dragon will be in 2012).




This quirky ornamental piece is guaranteed a very long shelf life. From dragons mentioned in Babylonian and Assyrian texts dating as far back as the 2nd Millennium BC, to the legend of St George and the Dragon – and even modern day computer games, let alone The Dragons’ Den - the legend of the dragon most definitely lives on, and on, and on...

Dragons have been treated in literature and popular culture with a mixture of fear and amusement. Written by Lewis Carroll in the late 19th century, Jabberwocky (below) from 'Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There', describes one of the most curious dragons of all time. As Alice says of the poem, “Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas - only I don't exactly know what they are!”

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.


'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Take a peek at this curiously camp, though somewhat scary, clip from Alice in Wonderland c.1983. I’d like to know what's lurking inside that carefully gift-wrapped box. I suspect it may be a very unusual little egg from ShopCurious, that's just about to hatch...

Do you?

California dreamin'

The British weather can be so depressing. Ever since the clocks changed and the evenings got darker, I’ve wanted to be somewhere else. What's more, today - Friday 13th - it's raining buckets, and gales are forecast for later. I decided to cheer myself up by looking at some photos from a couple of months ago, when I spent a few days in California to celebrate my birthday.

I stayed in Southern California at the Montage Laguna Beach – a hotel of understated character and charm, with exceptional service, a stylish spa and superb cuisine.

Some of the hottest things about this part of the world (apart from the weather) are:



1) The beautiful light. This area is bursting with art classes and galleries. Artists go to great lengths to capture the colours of the sky and the light on water – some to the point of being stranded by the sea!

There are magnificent sunsets and clear, moonlit skies at night.... and there’s not much that beats sitting round an open fire and looking at the stars.























2) The natural beauty of the coastline - Sweeping sands, bird of paradise flowers, palms, bougainvillea and agave… I even spotted my dream house on a cliff top, high above a rocky outcrop (see right).







3) Beach bums and hawkers. Only joking, you won’t see any here – being California, everyone has to be on their best and most eco-friendly behaviour. And there are hunky life guards to watch out for you too – hello boys!








4) Arty, alternative stuff - from this distinctive ceramic mural on a poolside wall (left), to sculptures and contemporary art in the refreshingly individual local shops. Plus, it wouldn’t be California without something 'New Age' going on in the neighbourhood...
























5) And, last, but not least, there were rabbits! Yes, curiously cute little bunnies hopping all over the lawn.







If you like these photos, I’m sure you’ll appreciate some of the quirky accessories at ShopCurious, like this retro, recycled US car number plate bag that’s just perfect for fun holidays in the sun.







Anyway, before I get too carried away, I'd better click my fingers to bring us back to rain-drenched London …or perhaps you prefer the Californian climate?

Do you?

Ultimate style statement?

Where do you store your memories? Do you have a box of old photographs in your attic, or is your life uploaded for all to see on Facebook? Have you ever written a diary? Do you have a secret place where you stash away the most treasured keepsakes from your past? If not, each of these beautiful ceramic sculptures by Fabienne Auzolle, available at ShopCurious, has a hidden compartment for mementos and cherished pieces of personal history.

You've probably heard enough of my memories, but before I introduce a new theme, I’d just like to take a brief look at a huge topic with so many avenues and permutations I can feel the wires in my brain starting to fizz.



Everyone is different and we each have our own contribution to make to life on planet earth. We all like to have our individual say and to consider ourselves unique in terms of our style, clothing, personal taste and preferences. However, there are so many of us that we usually fall into certain categories in terms of our likes and dislikes. Some of us prefer rock music, others jazz, or classical; Some of us are vegetarian, whilst others are rampant carnivores, or suckers for seafood; Some of us choose to shop at chain stores, others buy only original vintage accessories, or nothing but the latest designer handbags … and so on.





The one thing that’s different about each of us, is the eclectic mix of tastes and experiences that goes towards creating our own unique set of memories. Whether you jot things down in a notebook, write your memoirs, or squirrel souvenirs away in a special hiding place, the person your memories have most significance to is you. That being said, these days there’s a trend towards sharing everything – memories included. The proof of this is in the sheer volume of celebrity autobiographies, photo-caching, video broadcasting and the like.



Could this be part of a major revolution, not just in the way we choose to express ourselves, but also in the way we wish to be remembered by future generations? Modern innovations such as ‘digital time capsules’, like Diary of Mankind, the one I set up a few years ago, are seen to be ways of preserving our thoughts, wishes and memories for posterity. But will evidence of our mass online collaboration, our creative efforts and our achievements outlast us, let alone immortalize us for centuries to come? And, if so, what about the mistakes we made, will they be there for all to see as well?

Our current fascination with family history, ancestry, antiques, old photos, curiosities and all things retro reflects our appreciation of the memories, style, taste and contributions of previous generations. As for our own legacy, well, what do you wish to be remembered for …

the children you gave life to, or brought up, the work you did for charity, the money you left behind, the cars you owned, your final blog post, the book you wrote, your favourite celebrities, your sporting achievements, the pupils you educated, the parties you went to, the best film you ever made, the people you helped, the bands you liked, your fashion sense, the extraordinary things you invented, the meals you prepared, your size 8 figure, your creativity, your charm, your uniquely eccentric approach to life, your inimitable style, the huge stone angel at your graveside?

What sort of statement will you make with your life?

Please do send your thoughts and comments.

Will you?