Halloween

Woooops, again I have been lacking on the blog post front, sorry. 


Today I finally found the lead for my camera and could upload pictures from Halloween. 

Clare (myself) became Catwoman

Lacey became dead Marilyn Monroe

 And Laura became a witch

 Group photo and laughs at my gammy claw gloves

Have you seen the petals fall?

Meows and hi's, this week has been full of migrains :( its been awful! I've felt so sick all week :( hence my lack in posts. 
I was gonna post one of my new illustrations but they're all on my other laptop and I'm too idle to go find it and switch it on. But I found some of my collection work here on Betty (Betty is my Mac) and decided to post some selected pages from my collection book. 
My collection was based on a girl's first period and tried to capture a girl transforming from a child into a woman, embracing innocence, subtle sexuality and awkwardness.

 Poem by me Clare and the Bear

 Illustrations by me Clare and the Bear (aka Clare Heart)

Ethereal Wonderland

Hello there! I've changed my blog header (again) as I fancied a change. I've used another cropped illustration of mine but this time merged it with prettyful flowers which I feel suits my style a wee more as I love all that is ethereal and floral. 

Which reminds me of some of the beautiful pieces I have found recently, like this stunning rabbit wall hanging which I've turned into a necklace:

Isn't it simply divine! and only cost me 40p! I've had loads of people commenting on it when I've worn it saying pretty it is and how it reminds them of Alice in Wonderland. It reminds me more so of the ultimately sad cartoon Watership Down.


And this delightful Moss coloured suede handbag with ornate detailing:

I absolutely love the colour, and cost £3.25. It matches the bunny necklace quite sweetly.

This stunning cameo brooch:

I found this beaut in my local charity shop for 95p. I really like cameo's and have a small collection of them, I espechially like how this lady here though looks young and a little like a Greek Goddess.

And I simply love these granny shoesies:

I know they're not everyone's taste but I LOVE them! They're a dark navy blue suede and they're sooo comfy as well as being granny chic. Plus they were only £1.95 a shere B.A.R.G.I.N. if I do say so myself. Also I've just noticed how they do quite match the cameo brooch above. 

(All items found in various charity shops around Birmingham)


And to end my ethereal post-y-ma-jig with a lovely song by the marvelous band Fleetwood Mac:

Black Tongue

I found this video on youtube and think its super cool! And how amazing are The Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Too MUCH!

So in keeping with the BLACK theme of this post here are some sexy gothic black inspired fashion editorials:

(foto decadent)

 

(magazine scan)

(magazine scan) 

(Italian Vogue: Dakota fanning)

 (Tim Walker: Fairy tale)

 

(Vogue Nippon January 2010)

 (Jeisa Chiminazzo & Missy Rayder by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott POP *11 F/W 05)

(forgotten internet source)

(foto decadent)

(foto decadent: Pixie Geldoff)

(Ruby Alridge: The Cobrasnake)

(Sasha Pivovarova Paolo Roversi Italian Vogue Oct 08)

Dreaming of rainbow coloured hair

Somewhere over a rainbow I dream of having My Little Pony hair like these beauts:

 

Sources: foto decadent, i love fake, flickr, google, fashion blogs and magazine scans.

Ziggy Lost

Hallo, see I kept my promise and I'm back :)
I've been working on some new illustrations but I thought I'd post about a past project I did whilst in my third year at university. The project was to design a range of mens shirts for a River Island competition. 
My collection was called ZIGGY LOST and was based upon androgyny and the blurring of sexuality. Below is the collection statement expressing the concept behind the designs.

"Girls can wear jeans, And cut their hair short, Wear shirts and boots, 'Cause it's ok to be a boy, But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading. 'Cause you think that being a girl is degrading, But secretly you'd love to know what it's like, Wouldn't you? What it feels like for a girl." 

Madonna "What It Feels Like For A Girl" song April 2001.

The boys of today's world wear make-up and feminine clothes, have big hair and the freedom of expression.

They walk in the footsteps of their legends Ziggy, Bolan, Freddie and Jagger. 

Iconic's that helped blur sexuality and androgyny. 

Confidence is key. 

They strutt around resembling exotic plumed feathery birds flirting with all they encounter. With their fo-femininity masking their raging testosterone they entice and intoxicate their maiden admirers, who are fascinated by their feminine allurement. 

Boys are expected to act and dress and behave like boys, and girls are meant to resemble girls, but 'nothing is just black and white - there is always shades of grey'. 

The monochrome colouration of 'Ziggy Lost' represents the set ways of sexuality, and within the cut and shaping of the garments the 'shades of grey,' entwining feminine and masculine will be portrayed. 

Fragmented. 

Trying to discover themselves in a stable environment of acceptance. 

Capturing this essence of uncertainty, disorientation and disorder the labyrinth portrays the puzzlement of life.

Escapism from a confused and entanglement state. 

This is ZIGGY LOST.

moodboard

illustration line up

 

working drawings of the Range

 

Inspirational photoshoot shot by Lacey Layne Clements, styled and edited by me Clare And The Bear (aka Clare Heart)

 model: Blane Anthony Chapman

Golly it seems such a long time ago when I was doing this project! Although I still remember the migrain rendering stress of creating what seemed like a million techincal drawings! I definately don't miss those!

WOWIES!

So wow! its been an awful long time since my last post! The last few months I've been quite distracted with my personal life which has lead to my absence here. Anyho I'm gonna try and be more pro-active with my blog from now on. 

So a quick update on what's going on in Clare-land:

I'm now a red head again woooo, although it has drastically faded to a washed out pinky red colour now which actually I do kinda like, and random people keep coming up to me saying they love my hair colour and I look like a mermaid or fairy which undoubtedly makes me smile LOTS!

My Mr Men and Little Misses photoshoot with my photographer friend Lacey is almost complete. Just need to finish of some editing and we're maybe thinking of doing a few extra shots of other characters as the original shoot went swimmingly! Then its off to the printers and then to London we go :) check out Lacey's new website here

I am now offically a fully fledged vegetarian. No more meat for this kitten. I realised I actually didn't even like eating meat and the thought of a poor wee animal dying in order for me to eat it made me wanna cry and be sick so I decided that's it I'm not eating meat ever again!

I am desperately searching for a new job!! As my current one is awful and I super need something stimulating where I can apply my skills and most importantly get some job satisfaction! Oh and a pay rise obviously!

My health is STILL rotten :( today I feel like someone has hit me with a hammer, thrown soggy tea bags at me till I've gathered a million bruises all living on top of the other, and dropped bags of marbles on top of my head. 

Oh and I'm deleting my facebook page. Golly I'm super tired of facebook and I never use it any more. So if you need to get hold of me just email or text me or pick up a biro and write a letter, I miss receiving hand written letters.

Soo I shall leave you here kittens with a little illustration of mine.
Chow.