Colette

After lunch we headed to Colette, one of the most famous shops in Paris. I really loved the illustrations on the windows and walls. It really reminded me of the sorts of sketches I've been doing on this trip. The shop was an interesting mix of books, music and fashion. I found dresses that were exactly the sort of thing I want to make and made me think about how my illustrations could be placed on clothing. There was also an exhibition of an illustrator called Kevin Lyons who does cartoon like humorous work. I hope to have my illustrations exhibited in a shop like this one day!

sights, sounds and sun

After La Fayette and a failed trip to find a toy shop we went to get some lunch in a delicious Japanese restaurant. We also wondered the streets just taking in the sights, sounds and SUN! (I haven't seen the sun for 6months!) I was inspired by a few shop windows along the way that again made me think about the exposition. The architecture here is just amazing, we had a lot of fun taking pictures and just enjoying the city.

A long and lovely day- Merci

Wow today was such a long but amazing day! I will definitely have to separate it into lots of blog posts.
I will begin with the hotel dog,'Merci' and the 'Galleries Lafayette'
The hotel has the cutest dog, he is my new best friend, I might kidnap him!
This morning we visited an amazing shop called 'Merci'. Its a mixture of a clothing and home-ware, with a library and cafe as well! I was particularly inspired by the way they displayed the products. It made me again consider how I might want to display my products in the exposition. There was also a comical car stuffed with crates outside the shop that caught everyones eye.
After Merci we traveled on the metro to a shopping center called 'Galleries Lafayette'. Again it was mostly designer shopping, which isn't really what I'm interested in. However I did enjoy looking at a lot of the points of sale and found some interesting books to look at. I found a Mac P.O.S that attracted my attention because I have been using peacock feathers in my work. I think I will now try experimenting with peacock feather masks. I also found an old retro advert that might influence the way I approach the catalogue I want to make of my work.

First night in Paris

Today we left the Antwerp hotel at 9 am and arrived in Paris around mid afternoon. Most of us slept the whole way on the coach.
When we arrived we settled in and unpacked, then a group of us headed over to the famous modern art gallery The Pompedou Center. I visited this gallery a few years ago and was so excited to go again. It didn't disappoint. Before even heading inside, the building itself creates a lasting impression. You travel up to the galleries on huge escalators and the view at the top is amazing. Part of my MA project focuses on the idea of the Giantess, the cityscape would fit perfectly in some of my imagery.
The main exhibition they had on was focused on feminist art, a subject that often comes up in my own work, so extremely interesting to me! I was inspired by too many works to mention. Some ideas that came up included turning my illustrations into stuffed dolls and using expressive lines like Kandinsky.
After the Pompedou a large group us found somewhere for dinner. I decided to have oysters, as I've never tried them before. They weren't as scary as I imagined but they didn't taste of much, ha!
It had been a great first night in Paris!

Stephen Jones exhibition

This morning we visited the Stephen Jones Exhibition at the MoMu Gallery. I didn't know much about him and I've never really been into hats, but I was pleasantly surprised by how amazing the exhibition was. Stephen Jones came to fame by designing hats for Boy George, so as you can imagine the hats were pretty crazy. The exhibition really took hold of my imagination and I created quite a few sketches of the hats that inspired me the most. I was also really impressed by the curation of the exhibition, it made me think about how I might want to display my work in the MA exposition. In the MoMu we also had a quick look at some fashion students work, this made me think more about the sorts of outfits ! want to include in my project work.
After the exhibition we explored the city of Antwerp.
Antwerp is so quiet and peaceful. Every single shop seemed to be a designer fashion shop, as if like a strange fashion theme park. We wandered from shop to shop looking at beautiful clothes I will never be able to afford, ha! One shop that really stood out to me was 'RA'. It seemed more like an art gallery with surreal stuffed squirrels hiding in the corners. The skinniest dog I've ever seen that followed me around on its hind legs certainly added to the surrealism!
We also came across a small gallery called The Kunstgalerij Anarto which had a beautiful exhibition by Edwige Fouvry. The exhibition included some hand bags that had been directly painted on to with acrylic paint. My MA project involves transferring my illustrations onto fashion products, so maybe this could be a way to do it.
After the days excitement we grabbed some pizza and headed to bed ready for Paris tomorrow!
Its sad that were only here for a day, I feel like there must be so much of the city I haven't explored. One day I will come back!

Arrived in Antwerp!

Although later than planned we finally arrived in Antwerp. We checked into the hotel and then had a wander around the town. The hotel is situated right in the center and everything is in walking distance which is great. We briefly popped into the Irish Bar next door before retiring to bed ready for a busy day tomorrow!

On the ferry

We finally got on the ferry. It was delayed becuase of the super strong wind so the ride was pretty bumpy!