Christmas Slotting Decorations

In November I visited my friend Kate in Cromer and we had a super crafting day where we made many slotting paper decorations for Christmas. 

There's a deer in white:

And a robin:

I packaged them up flat, with instruction cards and a Christmas post card:

They were for sale throughout December in the Mustard Cafe Bar, Norwich and they were pretty popular!

Mustard Cafe Art Fair Evening

Return of the MASS

I decided to re-mount my MASS cuts as they weren't being shown off to their full potential in cheap A4 frames.
I bought square black box frames. I used sticky pads between the cut and the backing paper so that the cut is slightly elevated from the background and casts a shadow. I made a picture mount that not only framed the piece nicely, but also held down the backing paper to keep it flat and stop it leaning forward in the space created by the foam pads. 
The shadows created by the cut are incredible – they add so much depth to the piece and really emphasise the cut.
My initial thought was that the new owner would want to mount them in a frame they think is right for their home and the piece, which is why I didn't put much care into it before and used cheap frames. But the more I thought about it, I gradually realised: no one wants to be bothered with mounting a piece, it's my job to display a piece to it's best, and someone will buy it because they want to display it how it looks now. 
I'm so pleased I've done this.

They will be on display in Mustard Cafe, Norwich, until the end of December or until they sell. 

 

 

London, Christmas 2013

Mum and I made a day trip to London together. 
We went to Selfridges especially to see the Tatty Devine and Rob Ryan  jewellery collection. 

The display around the stand was lovely and I was very excited to see this collection for real. But I have to say, I was a little disappointed when I got up close. For a start, the display cases were low down, and bending to see these tiny things was a mission. The cabinets were back lit with blinding white light, making it very difficult to get a real good look at the pieces on display. And when I eventually managed to squint enough to see them they were so tiny and thin… I'd be terrified to wear these pieces. 

I was slightly more excited by the giant mirror balls in the stair-well:

We went over to the Barbican centre, where my cousin had a stall in the Christmas craft fair. She had been so creative with making tags and fold-flat display stands out of corrugated card. Her jewellery was mostly made from decorative buttons. Her online shop is The Old Biscuit Tin. The stall was well lit so all the buttons shone beautifully. She did well for sales on this day, even though it seemed fairly quiet there. 

We also squeezed in a quick trip to Columbia Road to see Rob Ryan's shop. 

Lovely window of The Book Hive, Norwich

My favourite book store in Norwich is The Book Hive. Not only do they sell beautiful books, but they also make great window displays. 

One lunch time I noticed so many things in the window had a connection to me…

There was the Fritz Kahn book, which is relevant to Henning Lederer and his Industrial Palace work:

I recognised this cover as it's a design by my favourite typographer Jessica Hische:

And here is a painstaking video of the design being made up as a paper artwork:

I have read this book; Map of Days by Robert Hunter:

And this little guy is really cool…

New baby bunting

A friend in Stuttgart has a new baby boy. He sent me a cute pic of him with the name bunting garland I made.  

Cube Type

Since the Mustard Cafe sold my Apple Tree Papercut, I made a new piece to fill the space. Technically, this isn't a new piece, but a sample I made some time last year, and I hadn't finished it. So here it is, hung in the cafe for the remainder of the month, or until it sells. 

Fun Stickers

I had some stickers made, just for fun. I will put them on my envelopes when I sell things online and post lovely things to lovely people. 

Apple Tree Paper-cut SOLD

After a week of being exhibited in the Mustard Cafe Bar, my Apple Tree paper-cut SOLD!
I shall get busy on another piece to fill the space!

Can We Shall We

Included in my prize for winning the Rob Ryan Christmas 2012 Competition was a beautiful 'Can We Shall We' laser cut! 

I spent a long time wondering whether to place a colour behind the cut. Pale blue and royal blue we're strong contenders, but I decided to settle with white to show off the cut to the most. 

I'm really pleased to have this in my home. 

Moose Knuckle

Autumn Moon

MASS paper cuts on display

Until the end of November 2013, my MASS paper cuts will be on display and available to buy at Mustard coffee bar in Norwich. 

My Rob Ryan Vase

For my birthday, my lovely mum ordered me Rob Ryan's 'Bells' vase, which I've wanted for absolutely ages! 
Unfortunately, it didn't arrive on time and so my mum did this…

The next day it arrived…

And I chose white flowers for it…

Doodle to my far-away friend

Alison Moyet Birthday Surprise

Dad and I surprised mum on her birthday with the news that we had booked seats at Alison Moyet's gig in Ipswich. As it was booked online I didn't get a physical ticket, so I designed our own. 
Mum was absolutely thrilled, I don't think I've ever chosen a better birthday present!

White Lace / Doily Bunting

For my mum's big birthday I had my family around to my apartment and we had a little party. The night before they arrived I quickly made some bunting out of white paper doilies, which looked like incredibly tasteful white lace trim bunting! It was unbelievably quick to run out with my sewing machine. I could have made a few more lengths – I got a pack of 60 for just £1!

Rob Ryan on my bed side

I finally got around to mounting my Rob Ryan ceramic tile. I painted a tile frame black, varnished it, stuck the tile in, and stuck felt corners over the staples in the bottom so they don't scratch the surface. I love how this fits so well into my bedroom. I also framed my screen printed 2013 Valentines Card. I love it.
PS – my mum made my the knitted bunny.

Space collection

I'm gradually building up a collection of Astro-themed art pieces, which has even spread onto my laptop background…

Baby Boy Bunting

I made a name bunting for a new baby boy. I hope he likes it! 

Tunnelblick

I have the pleasure of sharing with you another master piece of Digital Art…

Following the incredible success of our music video MASS, animator Henning Lederer has teamed up with musician Rob Clouth for another monochromatic spectacular. This time they present you with a hypnotic, constricted, circular tunnel of vision: TUNNELBLICK: 

Tunnelblick from Henning M. Lederer on Vimeo.
 

***IMPORTANT NOTE***

Enjoy fullscreen in a dark room with a decent sound system turned up loud!

Travels and work over 5 months

Whilst tidying up an old hard drive, I came across a graph I made in 2010 which I'd neglected to publish. 

The graph starts just after my graduation from MA Digital Arts in Norwich. During the 5 months the graph covers, I visited Stuttgart for the first time and took on a freelance project there for two months. I tracked how far I was from home and how the work routine affected my exercise patterns. 

Balloon over Norwich Cathedral

I caught a balloon above Norwich Cathedral this evening…

Sunrise by Roy Lichtenstein

In March I visited the  Roy Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern. As Henning missed the exhibition I sent him a post card. A few weeks later, he had animated the scene…

Sunrise by Roy Lichtenstein from hm-lab on Vimeo.

Cut out card for a travelling couple

Some friends ventured from Germany over to the other side of the world for a whole year. I wanted to wish them well on their adventure…

Winning entry of the Tatty Devine Hot House Animation competition!

In June, Henning and I worked on a short animation to enter the Tatty Devine Hot House competition. 

We had the idea of working with a travelling mandala. This was a perfect theme for the piece, as the mandala is associated with the far east – hot countries – something the Spring Summer 2013 collection is taking inspiration from.

I started by drawing all the pieces of the Hot House collection in Illustrator… 

I also drew some extra patterns, taking inspiration from henna tattoos. This was a natural connection, inspired from the Tatty Devine Holi party back in March! This is my beautiful faux sister, Auria, with a fresh glitter henna tattoo at the TD Holi party in London, March 13.

I also worked on the title and credit screen, animated background sun rays and sound design.

As the Hot House collection features jungle leaves and animals, it was really important to me that the film had a warm, humid atmosphere and tropical background sound. With the mandala's connection to the far east, it seemed fitting to adorn the scene with the sound of a sitar. This instantly gives the piece a relaxed ambience, which also connects to the mandala's association with meditation. 

The overall effect is a fascinating array of curiosities circling before you…  

The Hot House Mandala from Charlotte Vogel on Vimeo.

It took the majority of the weekend to get it done, but it was well worth the effort. Firstly, we enjoy working collaboratively – sometimes things get hairy, but we always find a way to make things work. Secondly, WE WON! 

Ours was one of three animations chosen to receive a prize and be screened at the London Short Film Festival in January 2014. 

We got a really lovely comment from Harriet Vine: 

“This is one of my favourite entries! I love the soundtrack and the way Charlotte incorporated elements of the collection in the pattern.”

See the other winners here.

A very big thank you to Henning for making making it all come to life! You can see more of his amazing animations here.

Woodkid poster

I entered a design into the Creative Allies Woodkid Poster Competition. 
I partook in this competition because I saw Woodkid perform at the Norwich Theatre Royal in May 2013 and the gig absolutely blew me away. The sound and power was incredible. I've felt so much from a show. 
Taking inspiration from the music videos and atmosphere from the songs on this album. 
Although I didn't win, my entry was selected for the 'Editor's Pic'.