Another Day, Another Photo Shoot

Here are some snaps from our summer photo shoot, in Wales. We finished last night and the catalogue will be ready in about five weeks.

London's Southbank.

Sometimes being a bit of a tourist in your own city is a great thing. Yesterday we went to the Hayward Gallery to see the Shrigley (again) and Deller shows and ended up eating excellent burgers and hotdogs from the Farmer's Market outside Canteen, watching the BMX and skateboard whizzes, wandering around and generally enjoying what felt like the first real day of Spring.

Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again

We are listening to this album (out on Monday, I think) and it is lovely. This is the next Adele or Amy Winehouse; mark my words. I read today that this guy had no interest in music until he was 15 and discovered soul via a free CD with Mojo.

Skateboarding In The '60s.

Until the other day I had assumed skateboarding was invented in the 1970s. That was when I first noticed it; when the craze hit Britain. I didn't have a skateboard, but my best friend David did. I tried to build one in order to keep up with David, using an old rollerskate and a plank. It was a disaster. Anyway, I still love watching skateboarders; what they can do seems magic to me. These photos were taken in the US in the mid '60s. Apparently, between 1960 and 1963 fifty million skate boards were sold in the US (which seems an improbably huge number, but who am I to argue this one?). These photos are by Bill Eppridge. Aren't they wonderful? Via Honestlywtf, via our title above.

Ardingly Antiques Fair. Again.

We went to Ardingly again yesterday; leaving London too early for comfort but rewarding ourselves with the world's biggest bacon roll once we were there. Ardingly is always great and I urge you to go if you enjoy rooting around at antiques fairs. Once upon a time we used to be able to find stuff to sell at Pedlars there, but no longer. Ardingly is now what I suppose would be called a 'retail fair' rather than a 'trade' one; and although yesterday was technically a trade day, there seemed to be plenty of non-trade buyers there. You'd love it. We were mainly buying stuff for our pub, The Glynne Arms, which opens in about seven weeks. And, we got some things for ourselves too, of course.

Snow Art. Made By Walking.

This is the work of artist Simon Beck, who walks in the snow in France, often for up to 9 hours a day, to create these fleeting works of art. Part Richard Long, part Andy Goldsworthy, part like nothing else we have ever seen. Via mymodernmet.

Tricky - Overcome

We're breaking from the Week Of The Pencil to relive a bit of Tricky's masterful first lp Maxinquaye. This really is a magnificent record and this post is in celebration of the news that Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird will be playing this album in its entirety in London late next month. Wonderful stuff.

The Week Of The Pencil. Sculpture.

These are made by carpenter Dalton Ghetti, using no magnifying glass, a razor blade, needle, modelling knife and nothing else. Ghetti is a carpenter and doesn't sell his sculptures but rather gives them away to friends. Incredible stuff. Via our title.

The Week Of The Pencil. Crayola Carving.

There's a powerful nostalgia for me in Crayola. Diem Chau makes carvings from these iconic crayons and sells them via her website. More via our title above.

The Week Of The Pencil. Extracurricular Pencils.

Post two during the Week of the Pencil and these Extracurricular Pencils are built around Max Fischer's -the hero of the film Rushmore- extracurricular activities and clubs. You don't need to know the film, though, to enjoy these pencils. Available -I think, although today they seem to have disappeared- via our link above.