The days are short and the nights are cold but if we do some dancin' we will be ok

KKKketchup.
Okellydokelly here's a little overview of what has been going on in the tremendous days of me (Miss Sally Elizabeth Leach)

Bestival (god it's good isn't it?!)

Back yonder in early September, before the cold set in, I spent a fun week out in the garden preparing a rainbow of fantasy animals for the wonderful portacabin that becomes Bestival Radio HQ.

Painting my characters on a big scale is one of my most favourite things to do. It really feels like they come to life and I have to say it's pretty hard to say goodbye to them sometimes

 

So off to the sunny fields of the IOW we went and with my trusty helper Tie by my side we set about turning 20 rolls of sticky back plastic into a 20 foot Zebra. Believe it or not, the top of portacabins are not the cleanest of places, thank god for the sunken bath at our heavenly pre-festival digs The Mission

We also added a few zootime friends to the roof, which helped it stand out in the packed main field.

And so it was...with a few gloriously tacky leopard print bedsheets around the barriers we created our own little festival menagerie!

Inside I wanted the space to be as colourful and bright as possible (an essential element, especially if the rainy year had itself a repeat)

I used a mix of flat painted character and 3D taxidermy style heads, and lots of jungle bunting, on a background of bright pastel colours.

We even had a little visit from the dudiest dude himself...Mr Motivator! AWESOME

I have to say that Bestival just gets better ever year I've been, the rest of the site was looking incredible thanks to the design team headed my Josie Da Bank.

My favourite was the Wishing Tree which poignantly became the closing bonfire of the festival

Much thanks to Tie, Ayesha and James Bacon for the pictures!


LET Project 
The next phase of the wonderful LET project in Blackburn has taken over what used to be an old jewellery shop in the town centre and turned it into a hive of creative and interactive projects.

I hung some of the characters I built in the window to attract people to the activities within. Hopefully I'll be able to use some of the other ones I made at some point too.

John Soane Museum's 'Building Explorers'

Next was a postcard I designed for the incredulous John Soane Museum in London. The 'Building Explorers' program is an after school club for local children, encouraging not only participation with the museum but to get them excited about the wonders of architecture in London.
I designed a matt-finished postcard that is just begging to be coloured in by these new intrepid explorers!

New Website!

I have redesigned my website, and although it will be changing again in the very near future, I am happy to say it's mine. It has pictures and words and you can click some things too. If you haven't visited it you most probably should, it's webtastic address is www.sallyleach.co.uk HUZZAH!


New Shop (and things for you to buy with your pocket money)

I've been working for the past month on some designs for products to start selling in my very own tinternet shop. They'll be a reet good mix of thing you can look at, put on your wall, carry your stuff in, cheer you up when you're feeling blue, give to your new crush and even some to pop your zits in.
I wanna keep most of it under wraps till I launch but here's a little sneaky peek...

 There's even some Santabulous things coming along...

Woooooooooooo, ok that's me! So how the hell have you been?

xxx

Bringing Creativity to Life (and a soggy Blackburn)

Following the Mural I did on the empty shop in Blackburn town centre I have been asked to create a window display to excite interest in the next phase of the LET project.

The empty shop that once was occupied by Vall Hall Jewellers will be used over the coming months to host an exciting variety of creative activity specifically designed to engage with the town centre audience.

There two curved windows in the shop, divided by a receding doorway, so I began thinking of ways I could engage the viewer from any angle they may approach from. I decided it would be best to have freestanding individual characters rather than, say, one big poster.

TO DRAWING!....

I came up with the plan that the window could become an imaginary art studio for one lovely lady, the items around her suggesting possible activities taking place in the coming months.

A little trip to GRUMPY later (best idea/shop ever) and I had my materials to crack on bringing her world to life.

Here's a pic of what I came up with...all laid out in my garden Art Attack style.

Molly's even been earning her keep by making a little friend to keep my Lady company..

...do you think she looks like me? (I wish I had purple hair)

Really looking forward to installing this little imaginary world soon...I'll keep you posted!

Painting on walls is the BOMB

So I've had time to recover from the mammoth wall mural I completed (in the drizzle) in Blackburn town centre, and what a bloomin joyous experience it has been...let me share some of it with you!

After compiling all my research I drew, and drew (and drew) all the things I could think of to do with Blackburn - it's Architecture, it's people, it's history and it's colourful spirit. In fact I drew so much that I fast ran out of space on the gigantic 8 metre design I mocked up.

I really wanted the mural to have two elements to it - to stand out with a bold images that could be viewed quickly if you were just passing (the street is traffic heavy) with added detail that you could spend time looking over if you passed it on foot.
I decided to use the phrase 'Ey Up Chuck' as a positive colloquial greeting to those passing as well as a symbol of the cheery Blackburn spirit. Using imaginative typefaces to grab peoples attention.
Around this I filled the remaining wall with my drawings, all coloured in a vibrant colour palette (I'm sorry but I simply don't do bland)

This is the biggest mural I have designed so far and although it took days to sketch, I knew the extensive planning would be essential to ease the application - especially working with over 10 different colours!

So, on a sunny Saturday, with the mapped out design all ready, I got on with getting rid of that horrid plain boarded shop front! First was the pink base coat (applied with my cheery Poppa Pete) and wow did it instantly command attention from the many passers by!

Colour mixing time! I got some primary colours mixed up from the Dulux colour mixing system and set about matching mushed up versions of them to my design...a process that took over 3 hours! I decanted them into sealed storage tubs (from the trusty pound shop up the road)
The lack of access to a sink meant I had to invest in plenty of brushes - one small and one fat for each colour, and I kept them wet using sandwich bags around the ends (which lasted the entire week!)

First to apply was the base colours for the statements (on a particularly wet day!) I was quite aware of not wanting to leave the unfinished mural at the risk of being vandalised so it was super late nights/early mornings, but having said that now the mural has so far been left untouched, which pleases me no end.

 

Settling into the application (after making friends with each brush) and sketching on the bottom half, I moved from left to right and back again applying one colour at a time, which proved to be the most sensible way to work.

It was really encouraging to talk to the Blackburners passing by, who were all intrigued and positive about the change to the run down shop. Some people passed by on a daily basis to keep up with my progress which I found really sweet. It just goes to show you that people of all ages, and from all walks of life are keen to see creative regeneration happening in their area, and really helped me stay positive through some pretty drizzly days :)

Slowly but surely as the week progressed, the mural came to life on Lord Street and bar from a few compositional changes the design was staying pretty true to my wishes.

After a swish of my trusted Posca Pens to add those little important details such as faces and labels...VOILA!...it was finished!

I sealed the mural with a good coat of varnish which will protect again rain and sun alike, and proudly had my picture taken for the local paper, which my Nan was super proud of, especially since it ended up on the front page...

(hahaha jokes headline!)

I have thoroughly enjoyed this project! Murals are one of my most favourite things I do in my practice. There is something about the childlike naughtiness of drawing on a wall that will never cease to be thrilling, and being allowed to do such a thing in a prime location (with a live active audience) only serves to enhance my pride.

This project was commissioned by the wonderful people at LET project and the regeneration team in Blackburn. It's truly inspirational -  the idea that creativity should be at the centre of local regeneration, and that although times may be hard we can do something to help brighten up the physical spaces, and the spirit of those in neighbouring businesses.

You can see more pictures of the finished mural on my Flickr

Mellor & Co

Yesterday I went to talk to a wonderfully friendly man named Keith at Mellor & Co - the Ironmongers next door to the abandoned shop I am designing the mural for and he helped fill me in on what history he knew about Lord Street West.

He told me that Mellor & Co have been in this shop since 1900, and kindly showed me a picture of how the shop looked back then (pictured above) It's fascinating to compare how little change the shop has changed since it opened, it really is a gem of old Blackburn, and should be celebrated for it's length of service to it's people.

I've also discovered that the shop I am working on was originally a wholesale greengrocers, explaining the loading bays and disused crane next to the shop (above) and has also been a razor shop and a reclaimed slate shop.

Keith also showed me out in the back of the Ironmongers, where you can see see features of the old coach houses, stables and original cobbled pavements. It could quite possibly be the backyard in the image I found at the library below, which is taken round the corner in Northgate.

I also talked to Janet, the lady who runs vintage fashion treasure cave "Decades" - the best kept secret of the North, who told me she'd been in her premises for over 20 years. She knew that her end of the street had previously been a Dry Salters, a Jewellers and a Dance Hall (which you could see in the arched ceiling above the racks and rails full of vintage delights)

Image taken from Lancashire Life article about Decades

 Interestingly I've also discovered that turn of the century pioneer film makers, Mitchell & Kenyon had their premises just around the corner on Northgate and King Street. Astonishingly 15 years ago two workmen discovered 3 metal drums in the basement of the property, brimming with hundreds of early non-fiction silent films, many of local Lancashire people and places.


An early clip of Blackburn Rovers V Aston Villa at Ewood Park, 9th April 1904 (nearly exactly 79 years before I was born!)


School children from Audley Range Primary School during their Physical Education class, 1904.

You can see more you tube clips from the 2005 BBC Documentary on YouTube HERE






I have a massively long (and still growing) list of things I want to draw in the mural, as well as messages I think are important to highlight. I'm finding it such a treasure to discover the origins of the place I grew up in and I really want to convey and perseverance the enduring spirit of the remaining local businesses in the area.

A few interesting things.......

......I have found out about Blackburn so far...

1. There is a giant buried here - John Fred Kempster

2. Ghandi visited Darwen (where I grew up) in 1931

3. The Spinning Jenny was invented here; revolutionising weaving and turned Blackburn into the weaving capital of the world!

4. The Crest was granted in 1852 and the bits of it have the following meaning:

• The Worker Bees are are an emblem of SKILL, PERSERVERANCE & INDUSTRY
• The White represents CALICO, a product of Blackburn
• The Black wavy line represent BLACK BROOK - the river Blakewater Blackburn is built on and derives its name from
• The Green represents Strength
• The Dove represents Blackburn as a peaceful place
• The Dove stands on a shuttle, representing weaving - which has contributed to the prosperity of the town more than any other industry.
• The Lozenges (diamond shapes) represent the spinning jenny
• Finally the motto - ARTE ET LABOUR which means 'By Art and Labour' summing up the energy and enterprise of Blackburnian workers.

BOOM!