uni- behind the scenes.

It's our big deadline tomorrow, which means I've spent most of my time at uni and really cannot wait for a break away from the place. No more grumpy technicians who answer 'guess' to 'how are you' and people stealing your masking tape in the screen printing studio!

Here are a few photos from the last few days, all from uni- surprise surprise. Can't wait to share some from a short trip to Edinburgh this week and then to Prague for Easter. About time!

Almost ready for hand-in!

Patterns I bought for the fashion show.

Printmaking studio- I'm honoured to have my cabbage on the wall!

Printmaking studio fancy letterpress machines.

Screenprinting studio- my own blueberry trousers.

First final piece for the fashion show- blueberry shirt!

Uni on the left- crazy evening light on the right.

Could we have sunshine tomorrow after a week of clouds? Yes please!

Stinky Wee wallpaper

Happy April everyone! I hope you've been enjoying the slightly nicer weather wherever you are. Apart from the much anticipated lighter evenings, for me April also means that my exhibition at the lovely Warehouse Cafe in Birmingham has finally opened! It involved some slightly stressful preparation, which meant getting frames and naturally breaking them afterwards but it was so worth it.
It really pushed me to do lots of work and now I have the experience of organizing my own show, which is something nobody can take away from me. I also made little products like cards, envelopes, sketchbooks, aprons and woolen pouches to sell on the side so we'll see how they do. Here's a few snapshots so you can get an idea - apparently asparagus together with mushrooms is a hit, who knew!

I wallpapered one part of a wall with my asparagus design as you can see below and the lovely staff want to commission me to install it permanently and extend it to the corners too (right now it's not aligning properly so the plant's helping a bit. Or is it?). They also asked me to make a matching lampshade, which is amazing news. I just have to learn how to make lampshades so if anyone has any tips, don't be shy to share them! One of the guys who works in the building saw the wallpaper and said: "Can I name it? It should be called stinky wee." So here's your Stinky Wee limited edition wallpaper:

These are my big cabbage linocuts, or as some say brains, extraterrestrial space or a path. Also I've heard that my blueberries look like monkeys in coconuts, don't know what could top that. Below are sunflower seeds, I guess they don't resemble many other things, luckily.

Here is an example of some of the amazing food they serve at the Cafe, this was a bulgur salad with grilled halloumi with halloumi 'fish and chips' in the background. So glad I have excuse to go eat there more often now! So if you're ever in Birmingham, make sure to pay them a visit.

vintage fair & canal walk

Even though Birmingham is England's second biggest city, comparing to London not that many exciting things happen here. So when there's a vintage fair, you go to the vintage fair. This one was Lou Lou's at the Town Hall, check out their next ones all around the UK! 

I went with my housemate Louise and we had a great time, the place was definitely buzzing, there was even a 50's style singing group which added to the atmosphere really well. OH and the cupcakes.

 

I loved all the patterns on jumpers and dresses, but I have to be careful with my finances so I resisted and was quite proud of myself I must say.

It must have been the event of the weekend because I ran into many of my classmates- like Manshi!
I have always loved hats. Don't think I could actually dare to wear one like this in public sadly.. One day.

It wasn't actually raining for once so Louise and I went for a walk along the canal and past some beautiful canal boats. I used to live on one (much smaller and less fancy) in London and it made me remember all the good times on that little boat. Sitting on the roof, watching rowing boats go by, feeding swans, watching the fire but of course also showering in the gym, dropping things in the river, freezing our butts off when the wood ran out, getting our mouths filled with midges and other fun things like that. I regret nothing, it was an amazing year on the Thames.

Canalside Cafe is probably one of the only really cute cafes in Birmingham- such a romantic little spot. Their rhubard & strawberry crumble with ice-cream was really to die for, I might have scared some customers by making a whole load of noises when eating this delicacy. They also have a fire and do all kinds of meals. Can't wait to drink cider by the canal there in the summer, almost like back on the boat..

face puller

We were told today that we can have a fashion show towards the end of Masters which I found really exciting, I hope we can do it! Apparently we get to model our clothes too so I thought I'd practice a little bit, which is a tough one for me since I tend to pull faces quiite a lot. So most of the shots ended up in the trash. Long way to go!

 

The shirt I stole from my mom, the skirt is from a second hand shop in Prague (for about 20p), shirt is Michael Kors (stolen from my Mom), hat is from Forever 21, tights from Dorothy Perkins, shoes are Dr. Martens (brand new so my heels are sliced, anyone got tips on softening the back bit?) and the bug ring is from Cow, a great vintage store in Birmingham. Oh and the necklace I don't actually remember. I guess I'm turning into someone who talks about every single item of clothing they wear? The whole fashion world must be getting to me.

Tomorrow I'm off to London to see the London Textile Fair and hopefully get inspired and talk to some designers.. Roadtriip!

PS: photo credit - Kim Smith.

brickwall shoot

I guess I have always had slight trouble with self-confidence and I've recently been learning that especially in the design/fashion industry this is pretty important. It's of course useful in general, with job interviews and things but I know that a little self-confidence is healthy and shows that you believe in what you do and that you're good at it. 
Today we had a guest lecturer at uni, he's kind of a big shot in the fashion industry- helps organizing giant fashion events and has worked with very big names. At first I thought he was kind of a show off but then I realized he has done a lot things to deserve that self-confidence and without it he wouldn't be where he is now. And I could see it wasn't a pose, he was just that kind of a person who went after what he wanted and wasn't shy about it. 
SO I realized my first step towards building up my confidence was to try out some posey photos for my blog! I definitely need to work on my face expressions but it's a start.

 

Industrial places really speak to me, I like the different textures of the bricks and the garage doors. Lisa (my classmate from uni, the photographer) and I came across a building site with cranes and tractors so maybe we'll try that out next. There won't be a shortage of those in Birmingham for sure!

in a nutshell

Hello all of you out there! So I'll be honest- I'm totally new to blogging and I guess it'll take me a while to figure out how I'm gonna go about it. But as I've been learning, it's usually better to just do things instead of think about them too much so I'll just jump straight into it. 

in St James Park, London

I'm 24 and I'm from Prague, Czech republic but this is my 5th year in England. I did my Fine Art degree in London and have now moved to Birmingham to do a Masters for a year. 

Textile design to be precise. I only realized I wanted to keep studying towards the end of my degree- I kept looking for textile design jobs or internships but they all wanted a qualification in a similar field and Fine Art was just too broad. Then I stumbled upon this course in Birmingham, went to see the campus and talk to the deputy course director and just knew it was just what I wanted.

So here I am! It's a really nice change to be able to draw lots and not having to think about the meaning behind it too much, which makes a nice change from my degree. 

It'll take some time till I figure out how to actually use this medium that's completely new to me, but I'm pretty excited! I guess I am a little old school- don't have a smart phone or anything, which I think will have to change soon since in the design field it's obviously essential to be active with your social media sites. And as much as I hate to see people on the train all staring into their iPhones or Kindles, I guess I'll have to subdue quite soon. 

Not to Kindles though! Nothing beats a real book.